


Onyx Armored Fate

by TeeJayWyatt



Category: The Boys (Comics), The Boys (TV 2019)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Drama, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Obsessive Behavior, Oral Sex, Politics, Possessive Behavior, Rough Sex, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Secrets, Social Issues, Stalking, Violence, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:53:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26904676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeeJayWyatt/pseuds/TeeJayWyatt
Summary: Parker's been through a lot over the past few years but nothing could prepare her to deal with a deadly Supe that had unexpectedly decided to insert himself into her life. Being the center of Black Noir's dark carnality is hazardous.
Relationships: Black Noir (The Boys)/Original Character(s) of Color
Comments: 13
Kudos: 111





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hey everyone! This is one out of two new stories I’ve been working on. I knew I wanted to write this since the ending of Season 1 from The Boys. Black Noir is easily my favorite character from the show and I couldn’t wait to get to work. I just needed a little more background on him and luckily Season Two offered that on a silver platter. I feel really sad that the season finale is already here, I just want season three already. Y'all know the vibes, feel free to leave a long ass review (those are my favorites) and tell me what you think! I’ll let y’all decide whether this will be a one-shot or not. This starts pretty dark but I promise it will get better. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own The Boys or any character from the show or comics. Nor did I make any profit from this work.

The clock is moving entirely too slow again. The realization was an accurate one as Parker repeatedly zoned in and out of awareness. She took to staring at her name tag on the front desk just to pass the time given that watching the wall clock had become too tedious. Parker Raelyn Patterson. All in neat, bold typing. They even included her whole government name. The tag was supposed to be pinned unto her shirt but she took it off after the third hour. Working as a Veterinary Assistant at an Animal Shelter and Vet Clinic shouldn't be this underwhelming. She always had a natural love for animals since she was young. Strangely enough, Parker still didn't feel responsible enough to have her own household pet. She'd taken a year off from trying to get her bachelors at University due to monetary concerns.

Today has been generally slow and the most exciting part of the day was a nervous guy whose chihuahua ate his weed brownie and was tripping out. The poor guy was scared out of his mind and Parker didn't fault him for that. She would be too. She felt sorry for both the man and the dog. All the same, the clock continued to tick and five minutes started to feel like an hour. The vet closed at seven and the last hour was dragging by agonizingly languid and she couldn't abide by any sort of boredom for long. The thing she liked about this job was that it was women-led and totally flexible with it's hours. The fact that she got along with all her co-workers is an added bonus. Who didn't like being in good company?

It was Donna's turn to lock up for the night so Parker just punched out her time card and left. Relief filled her the second she slid into the car seat and shut the door. She'd worked a ten hour shift and she was well past ready to go home. The night air was just lenient enough to be slightly bearable, for that Parker was thankful. Living in New York was probably too hectic and fast-paced for most people, herself included. Despite what others believed, she thought it was one of the worst places to take up residence in the country. The atmosphere just wasn't that welcoming in her opinion and she had lived here most of her life.

The car behind her honked its horn loudly and she jumped back into attention, driving past the intersection. She was growing more inattentive each passing day. For someone like her, that always had something going on, was a source of concern. At least, she knew why it was happening. Some people weren't that lucky.

She pulled up at an intersection near an old, abandoned factory, glance instantly drawn toward the dark secluded alleyway deeply embedded in the shadows of the building. She knew what it was like to be out there since she'd been there only once before she made the overdue decision to purchase her car...

Frankly, Parker had no business walking home at night when Sarah had offered to give her a ride. There wasn't a real reason for her to reject the offer and now here she was three full blocks away from home. Stupid isn't even the word to descibe her at this point. Walking at night always carried an uneasy feeling and creepy atmosphere. One she could never get used to. She was about ten minutes into the walk when a small pained meow drew her attention to the sight of a kitten just a few meters away.

The tiny black cat looked like it was exhausted and obviously in pain and Parker couldn't ignore an animal in need. She worked in a pet clinic for Christ sakes. Walking past an injured cat would earn her a first class to hell. She noticed that its hair was dirty and mangled. She doubted that its mother was nearby. The best to do would be to take it home and provide it with basic wound care at least until she could bring it to work with her the next day.

Decision made, Parker began inching towards the kitten slowly, mostly in a bid to keep it from getting scared and running away. The closer she got she could tell it was getting antsy the more she closed the distance between them.

"There there...it's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you."

The cat didn't share the same sentiment however, and took off in the opposite direction.

"Goddammit." Parker grumbled.

She was resigned to follow the kitten, as this was supposed to be her good deed for the day. It's leg was injured seeing as it was limping while trying to move as fast it could manage. Parker just hoped to scoop the cat up before it went too far into the darkness for her to see. Luckily it wasn't moving that fast since she was close behind.

Her heart jumped in her chest when she caught sight of a dark figure stepping out from the shadows. Not wanting to waste time, Parker turned around to beat a hasty retreat only to find that two other men were blocking her escape. Mild unease started to creep up her spine. This was not good.

What ever the reason for the three men to corner her in an alleyway couldn't be good. Parker had no choice but to try and reason with them as best as she could.

"Come on...don't do this." she pleaded.

"Don't do what? We're all just standing here. No issues. Why...now you must want us to do something to ya?"

"I think that's what she wants Rob." Another asserted.

Parker scoffed in incredulity. "Be a decent human being, if that's the only thing you can accomplish in this life then please do that."

A muscle in his jaw ticked, obviously irked by the statement. Parker hadn't meant for it to come out so harsh but it probably wouldn't be heeded either way. If there was one thing she learned in life, it was that a hit dog will holler. Circumstances be damned.

"What an uptight bitch you are huh? You think you're better than us?"

"That's not what…"

"Of course you fuckin do. All you city bitches think like that. Don't worry, we can take you down a notch." He said as she started advancing towards her in a menacing manner.

Parker put her hands up in a defensive way. "Whoa whoa wait! Is it money you want? I have money. Look."

She rummaged through her purse, acting as if she was retrieving her wallet, instead her hand wrapped around a small cylinder, switching the safety off. Parker pulled the mace out and tried to empty the whole can into the man's face. He let out a surprised yep falling to the ground, hands rising to his burning face.

Parker, having severely underestimated the exact location of the two men behind her, is tackled to the ground before she could turn the mace on them as well. The wind is knocked out of her. She desperately fought against both men as best she could - the spray falling from her hands in the shuffle.

"Ow! Fuckin whore!" The previously downed man yelled out, having somewhat recovered quickly and had shakenly rose back unto his feet. His eyes were bloodshot red and more crazed than before, face scrunched in pure hatred. Whatever plans he had for her were no doubt amplified by times ten now.

"You stupid slut." He growled. "You're gonna wish you never did that. I'm gonna fucking kill you." A box cutter is pulled out from his pants pocket, the small knife slowly protruding from the plastic. The nerve of them to attack her with only a box cutter was kind of insulting.

Just like that the situation had gone from bad to worse. Box cutter or not, she had to act quickly or she would be dead soon. The men were unyielding in their holds, with one restraining her legs and the other holding her hands above her head. What was wrong with people? She didn't deserve this. They had no reason to attack her other than the fact that they could. It was sickening. It was for this reason alone that Cassidy had suggested they take self-defense classes in order to be able to protect themselves. New York was getting more dangerous and unpredictable by the day.

The men were too astonished to move, having never considered the possibility of a supe showing up to a place like this at night. It had to be such a surprise for them to be caught assaulting a small woman by a supe. It was grounds for anyone to promptly shit their pants.

Alternatively, the first man is too filled with rage to contemplate just who had stepped on the premises and interrupted them.

"Hey! There's nothing to see here. Get the fuck outta here!"

Black Noir stood rooted to the spot, not showing any signs that he acknowledged the man's aggressive demand.

"Didn't you hear me. I said leave."

Nothing.

The man nodded in disbelief, a cruel smile surfacing on his chapped lips. "Alright then, have it your way." He started walking towards Black Noir until he was face to face with the mysterious man, an aura of smugness clung to him.

"Listen bastard, .I said…"

The words were cut off and replaced with a sick gargle. Both men restraining Parker tensed in reaction, undoubtedly confused by what they were seeing.

The man with the box cutter stumbled backwards, a small knife revealed to be embedded under his chin before falling lifelessly to the ground. The second guy is too careless in his thinking to realize that if he's friend wasn't a match then he didn't stand much of a chance either. He picked up the utility knife from his fallen companion and began swinging the weapon at Black Noir widely, movements too crazed to land a direct hit. She almost couldn't believe her eyes, he" ran right towards the dark figure with the intent of inflicting damage on him, a man who was a known expert in hand-to-hand combat. An ultimate death dealer in every facet. A sensible person would run for cover the second he made himself known instead of engaging a superhero who they had stood no chance of defeating.

Black Noir's fist slammed into the man's face, pushing him back into the brick wall, the force causing his head to explode on impact - blood splattering everywhere.

Parker had to press a hand to her mouth to prevent bile from coming up at the disgusting sight.

By now, the third guy realized that he had absolutely no dog in this fight and tried to take off running in the opposite direction. She watched as Black Noir smoothly withdrew another knife and threw it at the man, the blade planting itself right in the back of his head. He fell dead right on the pavement. To her knowledge, Black Noir was a professional when it came to using blades.

In a matter of minutes, there are now three dead bodies laying in the vicinity. Given the circumstances, it might've bothered her but seeing as she was longer in any sort of danger, it was easy to push the feelings down in favor of relief. Witnessing him massacre the men right in front of her was brutal but she couldn't look away. Fighting crime wasn't glamorous by any means. The things people saw in movies and television weren't anything like real life.

Parker quickly got to her feet, offering a polite thanks to the hero whom she'd never got a good look at up-close.

"Thank you. I'm sure they were going to kill me before you showed up."

Parker adjusted her purse around her shoulder and opted to make a haste retreat before things got awkward.

"Excuse me, I need to get by."

Black Noir merely towered over her, his motionless form making no effort to heed her polite request. She was positive that he possessed some basic understanding of human emotions and could accurately tell right from wrong. He knew that she was trying to get by but was choosing to continue to block the way. Purposely blocking the pathway for her to get back to her original destination and wasn't budging so she could leave. Either he moved out of the way or she had to walk around the entire building and that wasn't happening at this time of night.

She stood her ground despite her head barely reaching his chest. The woman refused to let him intimidate her. She pushes a hand against his hard chest in hopes that he would finally take the hint.

The supe's hand grabbed her arm forcefully making her wince in pain. The interaction had happened so fast that she didn't realize what she did until it was too late. Her knee comes up to hit him right in the crotch. Unfortunately, it did not have the desired effect she thought it would. In fact, she's horrified to find that there's absolutely no reaction from him whatsoever. He didn't even double over in pain and that disturbed her even more. What the hell was she thinking? To even attempt to trade blows with him was pointless.

A tight grip gets secured in her hair soon after. Parker was shocked to say the least, jaw dropping on impulse. Did he not understand that she wasn't a threat and that he'd neutralized the threat already? Allowing the man to do this was wrong and she had no intention of letting him go through with what he'd planned but did she shake at the thought of resisting.

"What are you doing!? Aren't you supposed to be a hero?"

Predictably, Black Noir didn't respond to her, instead turning to kick the side door to the abandoned building open, the force enough to send it flying right off its rusted hinges. If he did in fact have a reason for his actions then he certainly wasn't going to reveal it anytime soon which made it even more unbelievable.

He pulled her into a darkened area of a smaller room and her heart set off on an erratic pace. He shoved her into the room and she caught herself on her hands before her face could make contact with the floor. What was he planning? He was well aware of what he was doing. This man could splatter her all over the wall if he wished.

"I said what do you think you're doing!?" She angrily shouted, setting enraged brown eyes onto him. "Am I being detained for some reason? If not, then you need to let me go right now. You have no right."

Black Noir started to advance toward her much like a lion gearing up to pounce on its prey. A small knife was pulled from its holder and all the blood in her veins chilled. With the object, he could slice her to ribbons with no effort. Parker froze in place, unable to will her legs to move from danger. He was going to murder her. She was going to die today. Faster than her eyes could follow, the knife sliced the clothing from her neckline to the front of her pants. The knife was placed back into its original place afterwards.

The woman's hands didn't come up to cover herself, rather hanging at her slides despite her best efforts to get the limbs to move. It was no use - her body refused to cooperate. The mask dipped, seemingly perusing over her now exposed frame. He pulled her bra up over her chest, revealing her small breasts, the size of which apparently weren't that impressive. Parker would never forget one guy making fun of her in college saying she had the chest of a twelve year old boy. She happened to like her B-cup breasts very much and had made peace with her body a long time ago.

When the proficient hands attempted to remove her shredded pants, Parker gained enough of her wits to backpedal. Her frame was trembling with the night air. She was confused, so dreadfully confused at what was happening and she didn't know what to do about it. Denying him could result in her immediate death and she couldn't let that happen. Not after she'd spent so much time trying to validate her existence.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Obviously, the suited man didn't like her moving without his authorization and both hands caught her hips and snatched her back into place. The grip tightened in warning for a second before he resumed his original intentions. Parker tried to press her knees together but all that did was affirm that he was much stronger than her by pulling apart her and yanking her panties down. Once he resumed a standing position, Parker was turned into the wall and bent over at the waist, a blunt object soon pressing into her unprepared opening.

Parker hadn't seen him for weeks - four to be exact. A whole month. It was certainly the longest he'd gone without unexpectedly making an appearance. She really hoped he'd gotten tired of her and moved on to another unfortunate victim. The woman made a face once she realized how horrible of a person she was for even thinking something so vile. For hoping that he'd replace her with someone else. Which emotion made her more human? To rejoice at him being gone from her life or feel anguish at the possibility - the possibility that the supe could potentially be doing the same thing to another person.

The woman knew how the world felt about Supes in general. The majority loved them. A small percentage loathed them. And yet, it wasn't in her nature to hate individuals because of their race. Regardless of whether those people were a race of superhumans or not. Being born Black, she knew exactly what it was like being hated for no reason. Supes received way too much admiration and love from the public to ever believe they were committing heinous acts without the public's knowledge. People loved superheroes. People were literally dedicating their lives to worshiping, stalking, and obsessing over their favorite supe. While she was never really into joining into the crazed fandom, plus judging others was not something she usually did, however, in the event that she did - Parker found that she was a good judge of character.

She couldn't get too much into the politics and logistics of Supes because she only knew of surface level information about them. The tip of the iceberg so to speak. No one was saying that a hero had to be perfect because truthfully no individual was. But she believed that one couldn't be a true hero if they went around intentionally hurting the ones they have sworn to protect. That was the logic solely based on her own moral compass.

She's heard of numerous allegations of Vought paying hush money to keep issues with their superheroes under wraps. Not only that but there's countless chat rooms and internet forums filled with conspiracy theories about Supes and people alleging that Vought was corrupt. That the so-called heroes were in some dirty dealings and have been for years. Frankly, she had no idea what to make of it all. With all that power, no one could stop the Supes from doing what they wanted. Not even the seemingly all powerful, all seeing government. If the Supes made a collective decision to burn the world to the ground, who could truly put a stop to it? Unsurprisingly, it was a question many people find themselves asking. The answer was always the same. No one. Absolutely...positively...no one.

Black Noir, for example, was a long-time member of The Seven, Earth's Strongest Heroes. A mute, enigmatic figure with the likeness of a ninja. No one, not even his close colleagues knew that much about and that was certainly saying something. She always thought he was the most interesting of the seven, at least that's what she used to think. He'd been showing up to her home randomly, assaulting her, then leaving without a word. She hadn't seen him for nearly a month now, not that he had a set time of terrorizing her.

She remembered the first time she'd come into contact with him. She witnessed him disembowel three men that night. But what he'd done afterwards would forever be burned into her mind. Parker was left laying on the cold pavement, clothing barely clinging to her shivering form, in a state of complete shock and exhaustion. Unable to will her subconscious into understanding and processing as to what had happened to her. And to think she used to have respect for him and what he was supposed to be doing before all of this.

This quickly became a part of the normal cycle for him - to ravage her and then leave without a second glance. Who knew what was going on behind that black mask. There was only one person that knew. She knew one thing though - he held power behind that mask. Raw, tightly coiled power. Black Noir is easily the most mysterious supe with most people knowing next to nothing about him. Apart from him stealthily infiltrating her house whenever he wanted, she acknowledged that she also had cause for fear in other aspects as well. He could intimidate her just by being present. He left her completely unsettled and wondering what he'd do next. She'd learned to keep a close eye on his posture and body language.

Could this sudden break in itinerary be the end? Her worries seemed to both amplify and want to dissipate at the thought. This was a situation Parker didn't want to become accustomed to.  
xxxxXXXXxxxx

Four hours. She'd nearly spent four hours at her desktop playing Among Us after getting home and showering. Aside from working, Parker had undertaken gaming as a hobby. It wasn't exactly a secret that she's an avid gamer with her own gaming channel on Youtube which was currently about fifty thousand subscribers strong. The checks from Youtube and other small endorsements were making ends meet for the time being. Of course, she wasn't a CoryxKenshin or an 8BitRyan but she liked to think she was coming into her own very nicely. Recently, she spent most of her free time gaming with her group of close friends, Camron, Qua, Cassidy, Devin, and Jordan. All of which she'd known since middle school.

"I think it's Camron and Jordan." Parker alleged after an emergency meeting had been called for the hundredth time.

Jordan scoffed loudly. "On what grounds?"

"I didn't see you doing any tasks."

"I didn't see you doing any tasks either. Maybe I think it was you."

"Well, you'd be wrong in that assumption."

"Clearly, it's Devin and Qua."

"Cass you've been susing me so hard for the last thirty minutes I'm starting to think its you!" Qua accused.

Devin was quick to throw his two cents in as well. "Pj it's gotta be you."

"But it's not though."

"Listen, I don't trust anybody right now."

Camron attempted to say something through the microphone but the group could hear nothing other than static from his end.

"Camron, your mic is messed up."

"He can't hear you, he's in Narnia bruh." Devin stated, to a gaggle of laughs.

"Fuck y'all. I've had this mic for like eight years."

"Okay! And that's why it's fucked up. Had that shit for nearly a decade and it's full of dried spit and hot breath."

"I want all of y'all to kiss both of my ass cheeks, how about that? Anyways, Pj's the imposter."

"What's your evidence!?" Parker questioned.

"I just feel like you're the imposter!"

"That's not good enough." Jordan said.

"Camron you just be in your own little world over there huh? Messed up mic and all." Qua laughed.

"Yeah okay, keep talking shit and watch how I leave, get on my switch and play Mario Kart."

"Whatever, we can just skip this time. This is gonna be my last game." Parker stated.

"You said that like five games ago."

"I have work tomorrow."

"Okay well come take this last L before you go."

True enough, she was killed a mere two minutes later and gave a quick sign out to the others. She should've been done with the game an hour ago but it was just so fun and addictive to play that she had a hard time resisting the temptation. Time to start prepping for bed.

She wasn't exactly sure what she wanted out of life as if she already felt like she was simply drifting aimlessly with no clear direction. She was still struggling to find her place in life. And she had to live with that. Sure, she had goals, things to accomplish but absolutely no passion or motivation to accomplish these things.

It had taken a lot to be pulled from the self-loathing phase of her life that she'd fallen into after her parent's death. The issue was still very fresh in her mind and she was still coming to terms with it. She hadn't even touched the money she'd received from her inheritance. Moving past the death of one parent is tough but having to deal with losing both was crippling. To be honest, she still has problems processing her emotions when it comes to that. Vulnerability in any capacity was frightening to her. Above all else, Parker could not handle being seen as vulnerable to others - opened way too many spots for people to take advantage. Her being in this current predicament with a certain supe was evidence of that.

If it hadn't been for her friends taking the incentive to uplift and wrap a coat of protection around her, Parker didn't know where she would've ended up. They all had different personalities and often clashed because of it. But it was also the reason they were able to click so fast. Depression had threatened to swallow her up everyday since then. The dark time still loomed over her at times and she made sure to give herself a pat on the back just for being able to roll out of bed. For that to continuously happen, Parker had to love herself so that it might be enough to keep her moving forward everyday. She had never been in such a conflicting place of needing space and embrace.

Most of the time, the woman preferred her own company though she didn't mind going out every once in a while. Her friends had invited her on outings numerous times over the past month and she turned down each offer. Quite frankly, she was worried that Cassidy had already suspected something was going on. Isolating herself from the group was one of the many things she did while trying to cope with the loss of her parents five years ago. She'd shut the world out, refusing to eat or sleep.

Her whole life had been placed at a standstill. The devastation was incomprehensible. Though the others would never admit it, they were deeply afraid that she would fall into one of her dismal episodes again and something bad would follow soon after. For her, everyday isn't a 'We need to talk" day. Nor was it an overthink herself into a constant state of worry either. If peace wasn't on the agenda then it had no place in her life. Parker was just trying to come into alignment with the things she'd been working towards for years now.

None of them knew about what had been happening with Black Noir and if she had it her way, they would never find out. Even now it was a relief to her that they'd stopped making impromptu visits to her apartment a while ago. For one of them to walk in and see her in a compromising position would spell trouble of the worst kind. Parker knew how they would react, they'd want something done to prevent it from taking place ever again even if that meant going public with their findings. It would take nothing for the skilled killing machine to hunt and murder all four of them. It would be a nightmare for all parties involved and Parker couldn't let it come to pass under any circumstance.

She spits in the sink and rinses out her mouth free of toothpaste, overlooking her appearance in the mirror. Her curly bangs had grown too long for her liking and were starting to obscure some of her vision. She made a note to cut them as soon as she got the chance. A strange noise that sounded like it came from the kitchen caught her attention. The apartment wasn't that old to have creaks and unexplained sounds. Either she was imagining things or something was in her house. She didn't put it past anyone to want to break into her ground floor apartment, there were valuables inside that could make someone lots of money if they decided to steal and pawn them. Hackles up, Parker slowly creeps from the bathroom into the hallway, right hand clenched around a baseball bat hidden behind her door for good measure.

The place is mostly empty, dark, and completely still for the most part. There was a slight chill in the air but that was due to her inability to sleep with the AC on. Her eyes scanned over the living room, then the kitchen. Nothing seemed out of its place. She found nothing but unfortunately that didn't exactly quell her uneasiness. Just because a person couldn't make out the issue didn't mean it wasn't there. The feeling of being stalked was one she knew very well and there wasn't a shred of doubt in her mind that that's exactly what was going on. Pushing down the growing panic, the wheels in her head began to turn. With a surprisingly calm demeanor, Parker ventured back in her room and closed the door and hit the light switch, casting the room in semi darkness. The bathroom light was deliberately left on as she quietly shut its door. Parker then raced to take her hiding place under her bed. The sudden panic is made more noticeable and growing with every passing moment.

A few moments pass, then the door noiselessly opens and familiar black boots can be seen trekking across her carpet. This was not the first time Black Noir has broken into her apartment, in fact, she was mildly surprised that she hadn't suspected it was him in the first place. After all, who else had accomplished such a feat so many times. She held her breath and kept completely still for fear of drawing any unwanted attention to where she was hiding. His hearing was nothing to sniff. The black boots still, as if taking something into consideration before slowly moving towards the bathroom. Parker had left the light on and the door to the bathroom closed to give the impression that she was in there. The distraction no matter how small, would buy her some time to escape.

Parker practically bolted from under the bed and dashed out of the bedroom making a beeline towards the front door, which for some odd reason, has the dead bolt and chain locked into place. She couldn't remember locking those, as she usually only did right before she climbed into bed. Regardless, it was taking precious time away from her escape. Her stomach sank at the realization that someone had to have taken the time to sabotage her escape plan in the first place.

Taking hold of her curly mane seemed to be one of his favored immobilizing tactics to use against her. Honestly, Parker should have known better. He was very fond of hide and was because of him that she had to become more alert to potential threats. The truth was that there was no safe, logical way for her to get out of the situation unharmed. Once he successfully made his way into the apartment, her fate was sealed. He dragged her back into the bedroom, throwing her on the bed, wasting practically no time jumping on her.

"You fucking!..." She yelled out against his heavy and restricting hands working to subjugate her.

She was giving him all she had, squirming and flailing her limbs to deter him. Her legs started to kick out at him, not really connecting hard enough to cause any damage to his person. Realizing that none of her efforts were doing the trick, Parker turned her gaze up, eyes locking on the lamp sitting on her nightstand. She reached for it as the lamb was just out of reach. She was going to smash it over his head the second she got her hands around it.

He seemed to like putting her in vulnerable positions, where any and all power was stripped away from her. Where she was at his mercy. In her current position, she couldn't put up much of a struggle anyway. The Supe easily overpowers her each time, but Parker's stubbornness prolonged the inevitable. The inevitable being that he would get his way in spite of her desperate actions. Everything about him shook her moral compass. The hope of him leaving her alone shriveled away into nothing. He would not tire of her just yet it seemed - it was enough to send a shrill of hopelessness through her.

"You can't keep doing this to me with no explanation. I won't let you"

She's breathing too hard, staring up into his mask with rising fury. Just what kind of pleasure did he derive from doing this to her? It was obvious that he was using her as some sort of sexual outlet. Parker knew for a fact, that he didn't even know her well enough as a person to inflict any sexual desires on her as it was. Even if he did, it still didn't give him the right. After the third time, she expected a rep from Vought to show up and force her to take an offer of hush money and instruct her to forget about and never speak of the event again. Nonetheless, no such person ever appeared, which led her to the conclusion that Vought probably didn't know anything about one of their most prized employees activities while he was off the clock. She was a secret.

"I don't wanna play your games any more. Just tell me why. What did I do?"

Black Noir showed no outward reaction, instead wordlessly glowering at her with his empty cowl. In this case, his silence spoke for itself. No response was his response. If far as he was concerned, she was going to do what he wanted her to. If that meant taking his dick all night, then so be it.

Black Noir's mask leaned in until his mask was nearly touching her face. She could feel her heart pounding a mile a minute against her ribcage. The uncertainty of everything made it much more terrifying. There is definitely a tension in the room now.

When fighting back didn't work, Parker opted to scream out for help in hopes that the neighbors would hear. Black Noir's gloved hands experly wrapped around her neck in a restrictive fashion, possibly to keep her subdued. The silent assassin had enough of an iron grip around her slender throat that she thought he might strangle her to death. The fabric of his gloves was more familiar than she liked to admit she lamented before he started applying pressure that cuts off her air supply. All the fight was quickly leaving her overwrought body. He choked her until she was barely conscious, spots dancing at the edge of her rapidly dimming vision.

Weak and disoriented, Parker barely registered her shirt being ripped off with a few strong tugs then her hips lifted as both her shorts and panties were pulled down and off her legs altogether.

He manhandled her like a rag doll just like the silent brute he was. Black Noir titled his head, observing Parker laying on the bed with her lower half fully exposed and her breasts freed from their place in her pink bra. Now she was at the mercy of his dangerous, capable hands. Due to the darkness of the room, Parker was unable to use her sight to her advantage. Though her mind was alight with images of what he was planning on doing to her.

Parker's head hung partly off the bed but even in her debilitated state she could barely make out the shape of her aggressor, staring down at her. Never has she seen someone look so menacing. The suit made him appear as nothing more than a dark silhouette. As if she was being attacked by a shadow. One of his many intimidation tactics. Did she fear him, of course, but only to a certain degree. Having to deal with her faceless attacker in such a manner was stress inducing on a different level as many of his tendencies were alarming. She rightfully assumed that those with powers like his would eventually deviate to their own desires, twisted or not. Black Noir was not excluded from that equation. Before this it was easy to give the supes the benefit of doubt but now...she found it impossible.

Before long, Parker felt the material of his hands gliding over her chest, brushing her sensitive buds. He pinched one of the hardened nubs making her cry out. He knew the spots where she was weakest and her painfully taunt nipples was one of them.

Parker involuntarily clenched when his gloved finger slid inside of her, her body refusing to relax. The stretching that came with him inserting his fingers into her was something that she had a hard time getting used to. A deep throbbing settled on her clit as Black Noir set a moderate pace of fingering in and out of her clutching orifice. The pumping fingers naturally did its job of moistening her opening. This was meant to prepare her for what was to come.

The bed dips once again and she narrowly misses the light ruffle of leather material. The darkness provided him cover from her eyes - something like him, an expert in stealth and infiltration thrived on.

Grasping her with rough hands, her legs were spread as wide as they could go. His bare flesh was hardened and searing as he worked on seating himself inside. Parker's body tensed in reaction, to her horror she suspected that her body was beginning to develop a familiarity with his. Just another issue to add to her growing list of problems. The pressure on her pussy is massive, like he was pressing his full weight into her. Immediately her mind was blanking. Her muscles were starting to cramp up painfully. Black Noir's hands took their place at her throat once more. Small wheezes came out at an alarming rate, the air rapidly leaving her lungs. A burning sensation rose arduously in Parker's chest as she struggled to get some kind of oxygen.

Panting breathlessly, Parker firmly took hold of her biceps, attempting to find purchase against the cusp of pain and pleasure. Being choked out while getting the life pounded out of her added a high the likes of which the woman had never experienced before.

Straight away, Black Noir started up on an unforgiving rhythm of thrusts. He was jackhammering into her with significant force. Parker let out a tortured moan, her pelvis was already beginning to ache. The sensation was excruciatingly painful but felt good at the same time, churning feelings in her pussy as he worked his hips against her.

Making matters worse, her body had no choice but to comply with his body's demands. She couldn't take everything he had to give. Mainly because she knew she stood a pretty good chance of dying during sex with him and she had some inkling that he knew that as well. On top of everything else, she couldn't endure much more of this for long. She was winded from attempting to draw in too much breath and it didn't help that no noises could escape her mouth as well.

Even if she tried, Parker wasn't competent enough to make out the noises trying to escape from her throat at this point. The noise could be a low groan or a long, drawn out whine, Black Noir's unrelenting hold made it impossible to know.

Warning pressure is gathering at the bottom of her stomach. Tears are streaming down her face as the pressure builds to unbearable heights. He was wrecking her, igniting every one of her tingling nerve endings. She was cumming hard, her entire body contracting. Stars are dancing behind her eyelids, her soaking tunnel spasming around him, legs shaking uncontrollably. The rush of an orgasm descending on her intensely.

After a few more savage thrusts, Black Noir swiftly pulled himself from her depths and she could feel thick ropes splattering over the heated skin of her stomach. Honestly, he never finished this quickly, usually he'd carry them into a second or even third hour of sex so this change in behavior was suprising for her.

Her neck felt incredibly sore once he finally released it. Parker laid limply on the bed, screaming lungs pleasantly relieved to be reunited with air again. The next thing she registered was that he had moved off from her and light from the bathroom now bathed into the room.

She flinched when he carefully wiped a warm, wet cloth over her now swollen cunt. Parker's jaw clenched as he cleaned the milky mess on her stomach. The scathing look in her eyes spoke volumes, she did not want him touching her. Alas, Black Noir didn't seem to care about what she wanted at the moment.

Black Noir had taken to touching her softly, like one of his most admired treasures. This was not his first time taking the time to clean her up after he'd fucked the very life out of her. She didn't trust it for a second. She knew what he was capable of - what he'd just got done doing to her was proof of it. She just wanted him to ignore her and leave her alone.

He gently took hold of her face, evidently trying to make her look at him. Parker is naturally uncooperative, trying her best to tug her face from his grasp. He then forced her to look at him by catching her chin. His actions were closely reminiscent of a lover that missed their significant other.

Once she regained her bearings, a fire lit inside her again. "Get out." she demanded through clenched teeth.

"Get out of my house."

As one would expect, there was nothing. No reaction, no response.

The sound of classical music in the air startled Parker and her face is released straightaway. She nervously watched Black Noir pull out a cell phone, answer it and place the device to his ear. The sight is enough to confuse the hell out of her, as she's silently staring up at him with wide eyes. Two thoughts were running through her mind. One, why would Black Noir need a cell phone in the first place if the man didn't speak. And two, who was on the other end of the phone? Sadly, she wouldn't receive an answer for either question since Black Noir simply turned headed towards her bedroom door, opened it and walked out.

Parker stared at the open doorway until she heard the front door itself open and close, signaling that the Supe had taken his leave from her residence altogether. She felt a little safe again - at least for now. The dread of knowing he was back from whatever long absence he'd gone on was enough to make her sick. Just what was she supposed to do now?


	2. Careful Consideration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright, I'm back on my bullshit. So the overwhelming majority really liked the story and want it to continue so who am I to say nay? I'll be honest, this chapter was hard as hell for me to write and I don't know why. I guess I'm still trying to come up with an engaging plot for y'all to get into but I'm open to any suggestions too. Parker's really going through it right now but I tried to bring her a little happiness in this chapter. I want to thank everyone who showed love to the story. So without further adieu...Enjoy!

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Parker stared blankly at the ceiling for a long period of time, sifting through her jumbled thoughts before she could move. Not for a lack of trying but because she didn't want to be reminded of the night's events. The chill of the room had yet to phase her enough to want to seek out warmth. The familiar sound of tree branches strapping her bedroom window shouldn't have unnerved her as much as it did but paranoia continued washing over her in waves. It took a cold-hearted, callous person to do what he'd done and leave without an explanation. He was like a dark mass that hung over her thoughts and dreams, lying in wait to prey on her vulnerability.

She couldn't possibly accept things as they were. Who was powerful enough to have Black Noir at their every beck and call? In a way, the call interrupted the plans he had laying in wait for her next. And she was grateful for it. Though he'd be back. He always came back.

She has no knowledge of his true name. No conceptualization of his actual face. He didn't speak a single word to communicate. Still it changes nothing - nothing about the fact that her flesh still ached for him at times. No amount of trying to suppress the feeling in favor of hatred would offer any assurance. It's revolting and Parker's horrified at what they could possibly mean. The last thing she wants to do is give rise to such unwarranted feelings.

There's explosive pain in her pelvis, legs, vagina and she moves as carefully as she can, grimacing against the pain. Aside from the fact that her body was tired and sore all over, Parker was determined to leave the bed and make it to the bathroom. At least the light from the bathroom allowed her to see and make the journey easier. If she ended up tripping and falling, there was a huge chance she'd be there all night.

A positive takeout from this was that she wasn't burdened by the uncomfortable feeling of wetness between her thighs. The silent enforcer was fond of cleaning her after committing his deeds. What a right asshole he was.

"At least he has a shred of decency not to finish inside." She irritatingly thought.

The thought served to lend credence to the plateau of frustration associated with the situation. She never hated anyone before she came in contact with the supe.

Parker limped into the bathroom having to quickly grab unto the counter for stability and balance. The awkward walk felt as though it had lasted an eternity - a normal walk didn't even take her ten seconds. That's how she knew she was truly hurting. The woman overlooked her rattled appearance in the mirror. Her hair was all over the place and her throat was riddled with small finger-shaped bruises. It was moments like these that were really telling about her situation.

She was trapped in a vicious cycle of assault and terror. There wasn't any way to stifle the anxiety that rose in her chest every time she thought of him. Rape. She'd avoided the word altogether. She didn't consider herself a victim and she refused to let him make her out to be something she wasn't. She had way too much pride for that. Finding a way to avert him permanently couldn't be impossible. She rejected the premise that there was no way out of this. She had to think of something. Parker wondered if he had any moral qualms about what he was doing. Hardly not. Especially if there weren't any consequences and no one other than them knew about it. At some point, she has to ask herself...when will it be enough?

With the semblance of a turtle, Parker went about retrieving a new pair of underwear and pants from the drawers. Both were loose enough to keep pressure off the tender skin of her lower half. She then crawled back into her bed unable to fight sleep any longer than she had to.

A slight ping catches her attention and Parker notices a text notification from Cassidy on the bright screen.

Hey, I'm coming over tomorrow. And I'm not asking your permission.

Parker groaned.

Could she really tolerate company so soon? By the looks of it, she might not have a choice. She made the decision to text her supervisor and let her know what she wouldn't be at work tomorrow. It was understandable given the circumstances of her current predicament. The pain was not something she could work through. Having been through the song and dance many times before, she knew that the feeling would intensify by morning.

Admitted, she felt a little paranoid now. She worried he would be back before she awoke to wreak havoc upon her once again. Parker stayed up for as long as she could before falling into a fitful sleep.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"I take it the mission was successful?" Stan Edgar questioned behind his desk, hands folded nested on the hard, polished surface. Like always, the question sounded rhetorical in nature. The Vought CEO knew that the job he assigned to his most loyal employee was completed per his direct order.

Black Noir surprisingly inclined his head.

"Good. This is just what the public needs. To know that Vought is taking the Supe Terrorist threat seriously. There will be a press briefing tomorrow informing the public of the mission. For the meantime, be on standby for any orders. Due to Homelander's incredibly reckless actions, we might have to clean up a few unexpected loose ends. A problem could arise from anywhere. We must stay vigilant." The man calmly emphasizes.

The company was still working heavily on rebranding itself following Homelander's not so very well thought out actions. They had to please the shareholders as well. The process wasn't easy - especially since they were still focused on lobbying efforts to allow supes into the military. Now with the Compound-V fiasco, that made it all the more difficult. The public's reaction was as expected. Cleaning up the collateral damage itself was excessive and hastily made contingency plans had to be enacted. Truthfully, Edgar didn't appreciate having to step directly into the limelight and become more involved in Vought's affairs so soon following Madalyn's death.

Stan had faith that everything would fall into place - in fact, he was sure of it.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

For Black Noir, none of it mattered. It wasn't his place to question orders, merely follow them.

As usual, the grunts if the company were scurrying around like rats, focused entirely on getting to their allotted jobs done. Even at night. Ranging from things like getting one of the Seven a beverage to getting paperwork to a designated location. Rounding the corner, the man caught sight of The Deep insistently arguing with Ashley about something trivial he presumed. Better not to make himself known to the other man. Though, it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. Black Noir was known to wordlessly stare the Deep down until the man is visibly uncomfortable.

In all, the masked man departed to another corridor. To an onlooker, it might appear that Black Noir hastened in his efforts to avoid The Deep's attempts at light conversation often irritated him to no end.

He ultimately retired to his own personalized quarters within the tower. There weren't many people that were allowed into his room for obvious reasons. He liked his privacy and didn't like other's intruding on it. It was within the safety of his room and he allowed his shoulders to drop with an exhale. The mission had taken longer than originally thought, not because of his actions but because of Vought's need to handle any loose ends of affairs associated. And there were always those. Frankly, he expected more of a challenge from his conquest. If a target could be neutralized so effortlessly then it wasn't much of a threat to begin with.

Some fighting group of Supe Terrorists they must be.

It didn't matter. He'd gotten the job done. Undoubtedly, the best part about it all was coming back to see her. There's a saying that absence makes the heart grow fonder and was that ever true in this case. Of all the things, he'd done in his life, nothing could compare to the feelings she induced in him. He'd purposely slipped away from his babysitter entourage tonight to seek her out. No one suspected a thing at the moment.

He'd actually watched her for quite some time. He likened his pursuit of her to a fulfilling, non-threatening hunt. Any sort of hunt got his blood pumping enough to crash violently through his enhanced veins. But hunting/pursuing her brought the biggest thrill he ever felt.

His plans for her were a mystery at this point, even to himself. There was no definite reasoning he could ascertain as to why he was inexplicably drawn to her. She wanted to know why he was doing the things he did to her - why he could provide no answer. From his view, his actions always spoke louder than words ever could. It was a matter of him showing her how he felt about her.

She made it difficult sometimes. She expressed her loathing for him on every occasion and was never shy about it either. Their encounters always ended the same - he arrived, they would fight, and he would be forced to subdue her. Then he would leave. It was not at all how he wanted their interactions to play out. She fought harder knowing who and what he was. He couldn't see that fighting spirit leaving in the foreseeable future. The fire in her eyes burned feverishly when she angrily hissed for him to leave. He didn't necessarily want to choke her as hard as he did but she couldn't have her screaming and catching the attention of the nearby residents. For as small as she was, she did possess an impressive set of lungs. He would know.

Accepting him would make things easier for them both but she only made things harder on herself. He'd tried to convey that many times before but she was too stubborn to acknowledge it. Giving in was practically unheard of when it came down to her. Fighting was second nature to them both apparently. Truthfully, he wished for her to be herself and not turn into a defensive animal the moment he made himself known. A hands-on approach was not working as well as he thought it would. He just had to find a way to deal with that flaming temper of hers.

He's learned her well enough after every experience to know that she would never willingly accept his touch if something did not change. There was a better alternative and he didn't know what that might be. Her trust, respect, and affection couldn't be that precise for him to obtain. There were lines he'd already crossed that couldn't be forgiven so easily.

Black Noir calmly walked over near his large, black bed. He pulled a small photo from a secure, protected place in his suit. In the photo, she was looking away from the camera, her side profile on full display. She was wearing a yellow pastel dress and wedges. He didn't know why he took the photo, he just felt like he needed to. The entire three day mission was plagued with intrusive thoughts of her and he just stared at the picture whenever she crossed his mind. She calmed his killer instinct. For him, it was all about reinforcing his thoughts and feelings unto her.

"I heard you were back."

Queen Maeve asserts, leaning against the wall in the corridor of his designed room. Of all the Seven, she was probably the most familiar with him. Though he would not go so far as to say they were friends - they were certainly something. Their dynamic was weird and sort of unexpected. Being that Black Noir was Black Noir.

"It's a good thing you were gone. Homelander's been ready to blow a gasket and Deep's been trying to weasel his slimy way back into the Seven. He's been here everyday demanding to talk to Edgar."

The photo laying on the grand piano caught her attention and she moved to get a closer look. "Who's the girl? She's cute."

Although he wanted no one to know of Parker, Black Noir made no attempt to conceal the photo from view. So his response was just to keep his back turned to his colleague while he prepared the items to make his tea.

Black Noir was still shrouded in total mystery. He was definitely more socially withdrawn from the others and he seemed to like it that way. And technically, he was the only member whose life wasn't falling apart at the seams. Aside from accompanying Homelander on missions and public appearances, there wasn't much for her to do besides drink - and she'd had enough of that for a while.

Maeve knew she wasn't going to receive an actual response but it was still amusing to try and maintain a conversation with the mute assassin. "A relative? A girlfriend? Nod once for yes."

Most of the time, Maeve had to pay attention to the physical cues of his body. Silent and physical actions were the only things people could use to understand what he was about. So far his body language enunciated that he didn't much want to 'discuss' the woman in the photo. She thought that maybe she was a potential target - the assumption made a lot of sense.

The Seven did not need to know about Parker's existence and he planned to keep it that way. Without having to be burdened with having to leave for extended periods of time because of missions. Now with no forthcoming covert missions for a while, he would be fighting a battle with temptation on whether or not he should go see her again.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Parker jolted awake at the sound of her ringing phone, momentarily disoriented before she was able to fully regain her bearings. Her mind is slow in processing everything. Not only was someone beating on her front door like the police, her phone was going crazy. She quickly snatched the device up, "What?" she croaked out.

"Don't what me...come open the fucking door." Cassidy shot back, hanging up right after.

Parker rolled her eyes, throwing the phone back unto the nightstand. As she tried to put her body in motion, a hot, white surge of pain spread throughout her lower half immediately. Her body felt heavier. She clenched her jaw tightly, trying desperately to push through the pain. She stumbled down the hallway, pained and aching. The door opens and a smile crosses Cassidy's features then drops as she takes in Parker's haggard appearance. Cassidy's hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, wearing a light jacket, with grey leggings.

"Whoa...you look like shit."

The groggy woman sneered. "Thanks. That's really sweet of you."

Without waiting for the woman to come in, Parker trudged lethargically back to the bedroom, silently hoping she didn't resemble the likeness of a reanimated corpse.

Cassidy follows and is more than a little concerned when she notices Parker borderline limping. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Period pains." The lie was so easy and believable. Period pains were the worst of the worst. Any woman would tell you that. The pain would have you withering in bed for days if they were bad enough. She'd rather not be bothered today at all. Still...she appreciated the visit regardless. Parker was going to use whatever energy she had today to stream a gameplay but this was okay.

As usual, Cassidy makes it her business to ramble through her things. Parker expected this behavior from her friend as being intrusive was kind of her thing. It used to aggravate her but she'd since gotten used to it over the years. Parker makes herself comfortable in bed and Cassidy lays down right beside her.

Cassidy turned teasing eyes on her. "Rough night?"

"You don't know the half of it."

Parker is just about to doze off again when Cass begins to talk about a planned game night that she's absolutely not allowed to miss under any circumstances.

"We'll have old board games to play. It'll be fun." She explained excitedly.

"Yeah, I bet." Parker groaned, obviously not moved.

"Thank you for the enthusiasm, it's really heartwarming so early in the morning." The sarcasm worked naturally well for her.

"First off, when have I ever struck you as a morning person?" Truth be told, her intentions were to sleep in at least until two and let the rest of the day pass her by. She didn't want to get out today.

"Pj come on. You can't just stay cooped up in bed like this, it's depressing as hell. You have to be active."

"I am active." She contested.

"We've been planning this for like a month. You're going."

"No, I'm not."

"I'm not asking, I'm telling. You haven't been out with us for a while and you need to leave the house and go someplace other than work." Cassidy was willing to drag her out of the house kicking and screaming if she had to. Parker had already passed up too many opportunities before.

"Look you're hurting. I get that. I totally sympathize with you okay? I really do. So be sure to pop some pills for tonight cause you're still going."

Parker's response was to pull the blankets over her head. Some fun could take the edge off for a while - help her forget her worries. Though, it was hard to pretend that she wasn't being terrorized by a guy who wore a mask and suit 24/7.

Parker refused to let it be a defining highlight in her life.

In a way, she was downplaying her own suffering - possibly as a coping mechanism. She couldn't let the fucker continue to get one over on her. To her, his actions were seen as a means to repress her entirely and no one had that kind of power whether they were a supe or not. He was imprinting himself in her mind as a form or psychological abuse. Reaching out to a counselor or a person in the field had crossed her mind plenty of times. After all, it wasn't healthy to just continue on with life as if nothing has happened.

Parker always thinks she's gotten over it until it happens all over again. She only took one bad experience in life to slip into a state of mind that was impossible to come back from. Just one. Whether it was a breakup, death, failure etc. It took a lot to overcome sadness. She knew that personally. Now, she was too busy trying to breath life back into herself. She would only put focus into putting herself before everything now and she didn't necessarily feel sorry for that either. And that took a tremendous effort on her part.

Cassidy's head popped her head under the covers to examine her with expectant eyes. "Well?"

"I'll go. Only because I'm tired of staring at these four walls."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

It wasn't as cold as she thought it would be today. And to top it off, temperatures were expected to rise later in the day. Parker was patiently waiting for winter so she could wear that matching coat and hat from shein that she'd gotten on sale. Parker had showered and gotten dressed to brave the day for whatever it held. Both women choose to go eat breakfast at a nice little restaurant called 'The Pancake Factory' across town. It wouldn't be their first time eating at this place, in fact, they frequented it quite often. It was still eleven o'clock so they had time. She was starving.

Parker looked over the colorful menu, briefly considering other meal options but already internally set on getting her usual order of three pancakes, two sausages, and bacon. Unbeknownst to her, Cassidy made eye contact with the approaching waiter.

"Hello ladies. Can I start you off with a few drinks this morning?"

"I'll have a glass of orange juice." Parker apathetically answered.

"Excellent choice." He turned to Cassidy. "And for you?"

"I'll have some water. Thank you."

By this time, Parker had received a few no so subtle looks from the waiter which she remained obvious to. The waiter, Mark, was a total sweetheart and seemed like he could wind up being a lovely match for her recluse of a best friend. His attempts at breaking the ice with conversation weren't working as well as she'd hoped it would. Parker, as observant as she was, was not picking up on any of it and that was troubling for a number of reasons. Her recent plan to try and hook them up was genius but Parker could be incredibly stubborn sometimes. The pieces were all there, everything just had to fall in place. Cassidy wasn't giving up so easily.

If at first you don't succeed, try again.

"Alright, I'll be right back with those drinks."

"You know he has a crush on you."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because I asked and he told me."

Cassidy could tell by the look on Parker's face that she was not impressed.

"Cass you know I don't have the time nor the patience for a boyfriend."

"That remains a point of debate."

"Please don't make things awkward. I happen to like this place and I don't wanna have to start avoiding him like a DM from a fake sugar daddy on Twitter."

Cassidy's eyes widened. "You get those too?"

"Can you stop trying to hook me up with dudes I don't know." Cass was fond of meddling in her non-existent romantic life. The prying woman had even installed multiple dating apps on her phone without her knowledge with the intent to entice her into dating. All of the people in the world, Parker doubted she'd find her soulmate on or eHarmony. She could seriously do without the weird ass men and scary encounters altogether. In fact, there was a pretty good chance of her getting murdered.

The other woman sloughed in her seat across from her. "Fine. I won't do it again."

Conversation was halted until food came out and Cassidy wasn't surprised when Parker went straight in. If there was one thing Parker could do, it was eat. The woman could consume a whole large pizza by herself if she was hungry enough. And she had seen it happen. If Cassidy had to guess, the woman's metabolism hadn't slowed down yet. Truthfully, she herself couldn't get past three slices without feeling like she'd had enough. Although, Cassidy had long suspected Parker was using food as a comfort to escape stress and suppress negative emotions. In spite of that, it was still remarkable how her friend was gaining no weight whatsoever.

"I'm planning to take Apple to the vet later this week. There's a rash near her tail that she won't leave alone."

Speaking of the vet, Parker really needed to check her schedule for the rest of the week. She might just use some of her sick days to go visit her grandmother. Lord knows she was well overdue for one.

"Cat people are weird as hell."

"It's staring at us like it wants to kill us. How is that okay?"

"There might be some resentment over the cone of shame. It's his punishment for knocking over my plants."

Cassidy regarded Parker with a keen, concerned eye. Sure Parker could be a little moody and temperamental at times but there was another side to her. She was easy-going, passionate, and obviously the most mature of the bunch where everyone else was concerned. Cassidy could sense that she was fighting hard not to give in and become a cynical shell of what she once was. The game night was orchestrated for the sole purpose of proving her some emotional support.

Honestly, Parker hated when people looked at her like that. Her friends thought she was miserable. She was but not to the intolerable degree they were thinking. It didn't help that they often misidentified her moods - times like this showed just how misunderstood she felt. She appreciated all the concern but she needed them to cut her some slack.

Honestly, if she could just live in another plane of existence that occasionally interacted with reality when she wanted to it would be perfect. There were too many adult problems that she wasn't prepared for.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Game night started off on a hitch and everyone was in good spirits. Camron wasted absolutely no time breaking out the alcohol beverages for the occasion. Parker had already decided that she would not be consuming any alcohol tonight. She was more interested in the snacks and candy laid out in party bowls. The woman was surprised at the cleanliness of the two-bedroom apartment shared by the two cousins. To her knowledge, guys were usually subpar at cleaning and tended not to have that much furniture either. This an amount of responsibility she hadn't expected from them and she silently commended them for it.

The loud music would no doubt serve to irritate the neighbors enough to put in a complaint but Camron and Qua didn't seem too concerned about it so no one bothered to mention it. Similarly, Parker really liked the apartment complex where they lived and she didn't want them to get kicked out for something so trivial as a noise complaint. Although, it was amusing to watch them attempt to do the Tootsie Slide across the living room floor. Parker laughed breathlessly. The hilarity it elicited was sometimes too much but that was why she loved it. She was looking forward to busting everyone's ass in Uno. She was forever a beast when it came to the card game and they all knew it.

"We're breaking out classics tonight." Qua announced with his signature big goofy grin.

The group would be playing Monopoly, Candyland, and Uno. It would certainly be an interesting night since practically every person save for the placid Devin, was highly competitive and somewhat of a sore loser. The games were pretty tame until it was time for Uno. All hell broke loose after that. Technically, it wasn't a good game of Uno unless people fight and argue about the rules. It had been awhile since she'd socialized like this. She couldn't deny just how much she needed this; to be in a comfortable atmosphere with loved ones. Best of all...she doesn't feel too overwhelmed by everything.

Camron was like that playful, energized friend the teacher constantly had to send out of the room for disrupting the classroom. He was funny just by being himself in the most normal of situations. And on top of providing comedy without much effort, his personality was really authentic and sincere.

Qua was basically a tether of Camron if the dial was turned down to six. Unlike Camron, Qua was a bit of a playboy, nobody dibbled and dabbled in meaningless relationships more than him. Commitment was not his forte. In his own words, "He wasn't shit." He'd brought more temporary women into their circle countless times.

Jordan was like that nerdy black friend that often intermingled with boujee white people. Like the one 'sophisticated' black person prejudiced white people felt like they could feel safe around and was too well-put together to actually acknowledge his blackness. Oh how wrong they were.

Jordan has had the biggest crush on Cass for the longest time and the fact that Cass was so oblivious made it somewhat awkward. In fact, Cass seemed to be the only one out of the group who didn't know. Even now, Jordan's eyes often drifted toward Cass, observing her to make sure she was generally having a good time like everyone else. It was cute. As a matter of a fact, Jordan had confided in her about his prolonged feelings for Cass a while ago. There was no need to pressure him into confessing. The rest of group resigned to wait until he felt comfortable to spill the beans himself.

Devin was the most laid back and open of the group. Most of his personality consisted of being nonchalant and free-thinking usually because he was too high to comprehend most things.

Lastly, Cassidy was the only non-black person among the group of friends being Asian-American. An extremely sweet and loyal friend to all, her traditional father expressed displeasure about her befriending 'those kinds of people', like the racist prick he was. She'd long since pulled from under his controlling clutches years ago. With support from her mother who wouldn't allow him to disown her. Albeit still, their relationship was still strained because of this but Cassidy wouldn't back down no matter what.

This group of individuals played an important role in Parker's life - they breathed life into her when she felt like she had none left. Every round led to a debate of epic proportions. Before long, they were all acting a complete ass.

"It really doesn't matter how we play. I'll whoop everybody in Uno, Dos, Tres. It's up to y'all how y'all wanna take the loss." Parker taunted.

Qua was immediately offended. "How much do you wanna bet?"

"How much are you willing to put up?"

"None. I'm broke as hell."

"Then why would you...nevermind." Jordan shook his head.

They were now deep into about six or seven rounds and quite frankly, she was getting tired of saying Uno out. She'd won every round except one since Cassidy was able to play a good hand in the last round.

Camron threw his deck of cards unto the pile. "You know...I'm getting real tired of being dusted in my own house. I feel disrespected right now."

Parker was not surprised when Qua slurred, "Bro, how the fuck do you keep winning?"

"It's all about playing your cards right. Literally. Develop a good strategy." She shrugged.

"What strategy? You just use the same color or number to get rid of your hand of cards!" Camron laughed, trying to wrap his mind around what was happening and why he kept losing.

"Get rid of your cards strategically." She added.

"Maybe this can be a practice round."

Cassidy quickly shot that down. "Hell no! This ain't no practice round, you're just losing."

"No can everyone just stop constantly stacking these draw four's, this shit has to be some type of crime." Jordan asserted.

Uno and Among Us were the elite duos of friendship betrayal. With countless friendships being tested.

"You don't have to say shit else to me because you been moving funny too!." Now reverse back to me."

"How? I'm the only one that hasn't used a draw card! Are you dumb or are you retarded?"

Camron's face of annoyance was literally the funniest shit ever. The game literally lasted for about two hours. For Parker, it was definitely the highlight of the night.

"Camron, he does have a point.." Devin laughs, taking a swig of his drink. It wouldn't be long before he was heading back into the kitchen for a refill.

"Stop the cap."

Jordan humorously quipped. "So my thing is...y'all have all these draw twos and fours and yet nobody can conveniently use them to keep her in the game? For real, like y'all going out sad."

"That's your problem right there - worrying about everybody but yourself."

"You're only supposed to talk like that when you've won some games. So far you won nothing."

"And?! You haven't either."

"Are you two gonna argue all night like a married couple? Damn just play the cards goofy asses. It's four other people playing." Cass chides.

Conversation and laughter swirled in the space of the room. She had reason to fear busting a gut being around them. She'd been experiencing a lot of secondhand loneliness. It brought some much-needed levity to her. Strange how a group of people's presence can affect how an individual feels. Everything was more fun with friends. She felt relaxed - safe even.

After the guys had had enough of losing, everyone just shifted into chill mode and lounged around watching television. Nevertheless, Parker felt like she was the only one playing it any attention. It was a rerun of Translucent's funeral. Who knew supes could be killed. It almost gave her an idea. Almost. Homelander, in all his American glory, was talking to the audience while he stood next to the grass coffin.

"Today I can report to the American people that Black Noir has conducted an operation - killing the super-terrorist known as Naqib. But that doesn't mean sacrifices won't be made."

Parker's heart skipped a few beats as heard the name before quickly pulling her eyes from it to focus solely on devouring the gaggle of chocolate she'd gotten from the bowl of depleting candy. The woman had to remind herself that her friends didn't know. They had no idea what she'd been through at the hands of one of the supes they loved so much. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what they would think if they found out that he was in her house last night. Having to hide something so debilitating from them was exhausting and remarkably sad. Almost like she had no one to turn to, and in a sense - she didn't. The Seven are a corporate-backed Superhero team, her friends offered no solace when it came to going up against that fact.

Tragically, simple human rationalization came into play - she didn't want to be responsible for shattering their perfect image of supes. Parker didn't want to think about how she attracted the wrong person's attention. It was difficult not to feel somewhat jaded. As far as she could tell, there wasn't anything about her that could make him want to gravitate towards her. Parker herself did not want to be plagued by thoughts of him if she could help it. From this point forward, if it was out of sight then it was out of mind. She knew that it carried a near impossibility but at least she could comfort that she put her best effort forward.

The gathering moved into its fifth hour and Parker was beginning to feel exhaustion pulling at her. She'd settled into a state of reserved, quietness since there wasn't any more energy to utilize. Qua and Camron had completely passed out while Jordan and Devin had already gone home. Her and Cass made the drive back to her apartment just after twelve in the morning. The ride seemed like it took infinitely longer in view of the fact the both of the women were exhausted. Instead of letting Cassidy make the forty-five minute drive back home, Parker suggested that she spend the night and go home in the morning. Not bothering to reject that sound logic, Cassidy gladly obliged her and jumped into bed with her. This was a problem, they'd been sharing a bed since they were little kids and Parker craved the comfort. The security of being safe.

Cassidy's eyes slid open in the darkness. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

Parker contemplated the question carefully. For her, it was difficult to fake enjoyment, so she opted not to. Tonight was the most fun she'd had in ages because of that choice. "Yeah, I did actually." She hadn't had to zone out and was actually aware of everything going on around her. That was considered a win in her book.

The room lapsed into silence once more, neither woman wanting to disturb it if it meant finally slipping into dreamland.

Despite that, an internal issue still loomed over Parker's heart. "Hey can I tell you something?"

Air left the other woman's nose in a rush. "Duh. You can tell me anything."

Parker chewed her lips in deep thought. Could she tell her? The question hung uncomfortably in the air. With her confession, she would potentially open a Pandora's box of trouble all around and she wasn't ready for that. The attention, public skepticism, the anxiety. All of it would be too much for her to handle especially since Vought had their hands in everything. No one was coming to save her. She had to save herself. Black Noir had her severely fucked up if he thought he was going to get away with everything. To know he would be publicly applauded as a hero and celebrity planted a seed of resentment in her. He couldn't be her savior and oppressor simultaneously.

"Nevermind." she whispered.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

From his concealed place outside of her bedroom window, Black Noir watched Parker nod off. Shortly before their first actual encounter, he sought out the annoying little security analyst to find and compile a data profile on the little woman. He wanted to be able to read about her life as if it were an open book. Two months of shadowing her before an opportunity finally presented itself in the form of three idiot vagrants cornering her in an alley. In his research of her life, he'd discovered her YouTube channel and watched nearly every video to learn more about her. She held a near obsessive love for Beyoncé, animals, and cooking. Things he'd expected. He just needed to figure out how to go about things in the way that she'd prefer.

In terms of examples, there really wasn't much for him to go on. Translucent's normal conduct with women was highly questionable and he felt any tactics from the late vanishing supe would make the situation much worse than it already was. He remembered a conversation he overheard The Deep having with A-Train about women. Frankly he was mildly surprised that the former was capable of offering advice and that the latter was even listening to it.

"Chicks dig gifts, romance, all of that jazz. Gotta show em that you care about their existence or whatever. Make them feel safe and cared for."

He had some understanding of women, certainly enough not to categorize them all as the same with the same interests. Intimacy and affection were unfamiliar to him in any capacity. He's somewhat experienced when it comes to sexual proclivities. There's still uncharted territory he wanted to experiment when it came to her. Anticipation roared through his body like electricity.

Would she like gifts? There was only one way to find out. Only time would tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how I feel about this chapter, it turned out much differently than I thought it would. Please tell me what you think in the comments, they're a big help to me when writing these stories.


	3. Thanks for Nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I won’t lie to y’all, I have NOT read the comics and only know little tidbits of info from it. Most of my knowledge comes from the show itself and I’m not ashamed to admit that. This chapter is basically setting the groundwork for the steamy mess that’s coming next chapter. This chapter takes place a little over a week as Parker is trying to heal.

No one day at the vet was the same, as a matter of a fact, each day was vastly different. Parker still felt little twinges of pain when she walked so she tried to keep movement at a minimum.

She was happy to have chosen a career that didn't overwhelm her soul. At least here she could work on putting forth enough effort to escape the existential dread bombarding her life. If she did nothing, she would be stuck and that wasn't an option. She needed a mental refresher. Because she deserves nice things and there wasn't a safety net for her to fall into just in case something went wrong. Without a shadow of doubt, she considers its normal dealing with the mess that was her personal life.

Time goes by a lot faster if a person can keep themselves busy. Parker could handle a slow day if she was busy enough to distract her from the slow time going by. The workload for her is usually manageable and didn't allow for many pressures.

Her co-worker, Tamina was chattering away on the vet's office phone, knowing that it wasn't allowed and she'd be reprimanded if caught. Like the nosey person she was, Parker listens to tidbits of the conversation and apparently Tamina's boyfriend, Adrian might be seeing another woman behind her back. She met him once before when he'd dropped off a bouquet of flowers as an apology for something else he'd done. Frankly, Parker did not think he was cute enough for her to be stressing over. And the fact that he had the audacity to cheat on someone as beautiful as Tamina was astonishing. He gave off the impression of a slimy person who had questionable tendencies so it wasn't hard to imagine him cheating or taking advantage of someone. That's just the type of guy he is. At the end of the day - Tamina could do better.

"That's pretty prophetic."

One of the vet's regular clients brought in their huge shepherd dog and the staff always went bonkers over him. The dog's name was Joey and was essentially a big teddy bear that loved to be petted. The pooch behaved fairly well during the grooming and check-up process. His owner, Dan was a fifty-six year old chemistry teacher, with a sweet soul. The man explained that after his wife died, Joey was the one to pull him out of a deep depression and his life would have been much different without the canine by his side. It was a joy to have him and his owner stop by.

She lived for moments like this. Animals are precious and humans don't deserve them.

Parker was surprised when Cassidy strolled in with a cage entirely too big for her to carry. The cage was bought for the sole purpose of being extra because her vicious cat was not that big. The feline, who by her own account, already seemed agitated as it realized that its owner had brought it to the vet.

"I thought you said you'd bring the cat here sometimes later in the week."

Parker started to jot down a few notes on a clipboard stacked with information sheets.

Cassidy laughed. "Well it was either this or going to work so…"

Parker totally understood where her friend was coming from. In fact, she only planned to work five hours today. There was important business to handle later in the day.

She didn't have a thing against cats, it was just Cassidy's cat that seemed like it worked for the devil himself and she wouldn't be surprised to find out if it actually did. He seemed like a minion of evil. The cat needed to be watched at all times and if not, someone might end up seriously hurt. Honestly, her friend just booked an appointment to watch her pet attempt to attack the staff for trying to care for it.

Parker muttered as she checked the pair in.

"Your cat's a little psycho, get him some help."

Cassidy cackled loudly. "Oh don't be so negative."

"Take your hissing, satanic cat in the backroom please." Parker playfully jokes.

"No, he's just sensitive sometimes."

"All the time." Parker corrected.

"...Just when he feels uncomfortable."

"Is that denial I hear?"

As her cat-loving friend disappeared into the door going towards the examination rooms, a delivery man walked through the entrance arms filled with a huge bouquet. It wasn't just any old bouquet of flowers, Parker recognized it as a set of LED Luminous Roses, the kind she'd only seen being advertised and gifted to girlfriends on Instagram. If Adrian sent these flowers that meant one of two things, he fucked up bigtime and he had some good taste.

"Is there a Parker Patterson?" The delivery man inquired.

Parker's face contorted in confusion. Why the fuck was someone sending her flowers in the middle of the day like this? She'd expressed more than a few times that she wanted someone to give her the extravagant flowers. One thing that didn't she didn't understand was who had sent them here.

She raised a hand. "Um..I'm Parker."

She watched, eyes wider than two baseballs as she carefully sat the flowers on the front desk then left without another word. Of course, she'd been sent gifts from subscribers before but this was something different.

Tamina came from the back room, noticing Parker looking over the gorgeous bouquet.

"Who's the special guy?" She teased, mouth pulled back to reveal rows of pearly whites.

"There is no special guy." Parker confusingly replied.

Her brows drew down, hands coming to her hips. "You don't know who sent em?"

"No."

"Well, they want your attention. And I think they got it."

Boy, was that the understatement of the year. She didn't think she could stomach any sort of romantic relationship at the present time and it was highly likely that her recent sexual experiences would interfere with her desire to have sex in the first place.

The real issue was how this shit was supposed to fit inside her car?

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Maeve simply couldn't quell the feeling of irritation watching the overly excited man pitch the concept for 'Dawn of The Seven' in the meeting room that overlooked the city. The movie would be the latest big piece of garbage that Vought had cooked up to add to the ever-growing list of cinema history and people will still pay money to see it like the gullible, mindless sheep they were. Everyone except the public knew what Vought's intentions were. The corporation was scrambling to save face and resume normality in spite of the compound-v scandal. The movie was just another marketing strategy that would be used to distract the public.

If Corporate America taught her one thing in all the years of working - it was that these people were incompetent and corrupt. Everything centered around money. Every. Single. Thing. Disaster or not, they didn't care as long a check was cut to clear the resulting damage.

It was too early for this bullshit.

Ashley, with her new role of Senior Vice President of Hero Management appointed by Homelander himself, had grown increasingly more annoying for everyone that was forced to be around her. Every shoot, every gathering, every meeting. She was unbearable - the nervous wreck of a woman she was.

She was supposed to be going to see Elena today but it might have to wait until another time. A time where it was safe. She couldn't take the risk of anyone finding out. Bad enough that she had to sneak around and conceal their relationship in the first place. Now with Homelander looming on the horizon, it made things way more dangerous and complicated. It put her on edge. It was a matter of waiting for the right opportunity.

Things had never been this bad. He was slowly losing his grip on reality and the man was already a jealous, sociopath long before then. Possessive even. Gradually becoming more unhinged as days went by - becoming more comfortable being the psychopathic man-child he was. She could take no chances with him.

Maeve could not afford to lose another person in her life. And for the first time in a long time, the woman was willing to fight - willing to find herself again. Maeve understood that a person had to fight through some bad days to earn the good ones. All of the years spent being Vought's puppet, wallowing in shame and the knowledge of being bitter alcoholic. There wasn't any peace or satisfaction in being lost. The only question she had was why hadn't she come to her senses sooner?

After the Flight 37 incident, so much had been brought to the forefront of her jaded mind. Thinking of it made her die inside a little every day. The image of the little girl pleading to be saved was burned into her brain. Truthfully, she would never get over it. Never. And the worst part of it - she didn't know if it was right to want to forget. She'd ended up relapsing hard. The woman was tasked with unpacking the emotional and mental scars it left on her psyche and she would not keep living like she was. Not anymore. Something had to give. She had to protect the ones she loved and hold them close. If anything happened to Elena, she would never forgive herself. The woman meant too much. Things were just so uncertain now.

Maeve didn't know what spawned the change in her but suspected the line of thinking appeared the moment Starlight became an addition to the team. Being Homelander's accomplice through so many atrocities that it was mind-numbing and she'd finally reached her breaking point. Now she was ready to leave the world of superheroes alone forever. At least until she could find a way out that didn't involve getting lasered or dismembered. It was the best she could do at this point in time. Every movement had to be strategic.

The new girl sarcastically interjected. Turns out that she'd been doing a lot of that since the first day without a care in the world. Being obnoxious seemed to work for her and she reveled in it. Maeve thought that she'd gotten used to it but that didn't make it any less exasperating.

Next to her, A-Train looked deathly ill and exhausted. She knew it had to do with the complications surrounding his heart. Shooting up on the blue substance had in no certain terms wreaked havoc on his body inside and out.

Starlight sat quietly with that stupid naïve look on her face. Ashley stood behind the chair at the head of the v-shaped table, doing the usual ass-kissing that she was known for.

A quick glance at Black Noir affirmed one of his usual characteristics - he was slumped over in his chair, obviously asleep by the looks of it. The supe was known for sleeping halfway through tedious meetings like these. He was quite the night owl. Maeve had not forgotten about that picture in his possession. Her curiosity hadn't left entirely. The woman could be a potential target but there was no sure way of finding out since everything he did remained lowkey.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

The skyscraper looked endless as it ascended high towards the clouds. It looked more daunting the longer she stared at it. The building itself painted a picture of gloom over her that was not easy to shake. Strange that of all times in the city, she never noticed it before - with the stylized '7' design and glass conic section, it definitely stood out among the other high-rise buildings. Though that didn't make standing in front of the tower any less nerve-wracking. Most of the pedestrian traffic surrounding the headquarters consisted of well-dressed business men and women so she stood out in her jeans, sneakers, and light sweater.

Parker clutched the strap of her purse, taking a deep breath to push down the overwhelming hesitancy. The nervousness wasn't like her at all. There was no other way around it. She already spent twelve dollars to park her car a few blocks away and she planned to get her money's worth. The woman spent hours searching on her computer before she built up the courage to actually go through with it - she put too much thought into it not to make it happen. Her mind was made up. She saw this as her chance, possibly her only chance at being free. A sliver of adrenaline zipped through her at the concept. She couldn't handle another instance of fingers pressing down unto her trachea.

For something to be done, she had to go directly to the source.

Parker took another uncertain step towards the building's entrance. This was dangerous territory. The place housed the World's most powerful - most noticeable superheroes.

Parker took a deep breath before she casually walked through the revolving doors straight into the well-lit lobby area. Not surprisingly, there weren't many people lingering around the lobby aside from the occasional arriving and departing occupants. A curved reception desk that sat on the far end caught her attention. Lobby employees were sitting behind laptops typing away, occasionally taking a call from the ringing phones. In all honesty, she expected to be turned away before she even walked through the doors but this was a nice development.

"Hello, I'm-" She was silenced by a finger being held up. The gesture was rude as hell in her opinion. The male even took his sweet time looking away from the screen to gauge her with disinterest. The receptionist fixed a condescending look on her as if she was not worthy of his time.

"Yes?"

"I'm here to see Stan Edgar."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Well, no but…"

"Sorry but without an appointment booked I'm afraid I can't let you through."

No, Parker wouldn't accept that.

"Please this is really important. This can't wait."

"I'm sure it is."

"I'm serious, he'll want to hear what I have to say."

"That may be the case…"

"When is his next opening? I want to make an appointment." The woman insisted.

"Let's see...the next opening is around December 19th."

"December?!"

"It's not that far away."

"How?! It's April!"

"Look lady I'm sorry but it's the best we can do. And even then it's not a guarantee."

Parker narrowed her eyes at the man, mild anger started to simmer just below the surface. "Listen I just need to speak with him for a few minutes."

"He's not in at the moment."

She didn't not just go through that whole pointless exchange just for him to tell her that. Parker was just about ready to reach across the desk and pop him in the mouth. He's like he was being purposely obtuse and unsympathetic to her situation. Not making the slightest effort to comprehend where she was coming from. As if he didn't care what she had to say because he already made his mind up not to and it infuriated her. She hated stuffy business people with a passion because of things like this. Working in a corporation often left people harsh and insensitive so this type of behavior was not surprising.

"You mean to tell me you knew that this whole time and didn't say anything?"

"I'm just doing my job alright. Don't make me call security and have you removed. I really don't want to but I will." He pressed the phone to his ear, opposite finger hovering over a red button.

Honestly, she should've known that things wouldn't be that simple.

"Why does he get to go in and I don't?" She accused, pointing over his shoulder at a clueless man who was just minding his business.

The stupid 'Look over there' scheme had the desire effect though since the receptionist turned quickly and she was given the opportunity to make a break for the elevator.

"Hey! Don't!"

Parker acted as if she didn't hear him yelling and moving to run after her. Luck would be on her side when the heavy elevator doors shut before anyone could stop them.

Breathing a sigh of relief and leaned against the back wall. She didn't expect it to be so easy to bypass the front desk. He fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book and now it was going to cost him. That's what he gets for being an asshole. Parker turned her attention towards the button panel. Frankly, she had no idea what floor to go to. Technically, this was trespassing but what other choice did she have? She'd been placed in a corner with no way out and her time space was limited. Now she had to act fast and go about this the right way.

With the added pressure of cameras watching her everywhere. The quietness within the lift made her moderately nervous. There's a slight possibility that she could get arrested for this. She essentially just broke into the headquarters of a billion-dollar company. There wasn't any doubt in her mind that Vought took security breaches very seriously. It was only a matter of time before they sounded the alarm and she had to find a way to haul ass out of the enormous building altogether. Or worse - she could end up running into a member of The Seven. She would rather not risk the heart attack of seeing the dark cloak of mystery in the tower. The rational part of her brain was screaming. What the fuck was she doing? This could turn out to be extremely bad. On the other hand, things could end up working out in her favor.

The lift doors dinged as she reached a random floor, 54th to be exact. Parker slowly ventured out but not before looking in both directions. As she continued walking through the place, Parker realized that this skyscraper wasn't like any other skyscraper. Tall glass, sleek surfaces, oak decorations with concrete structural columns. Hues of gray and black immediately stood out and the floor gleamed as if it was polished everyday. Wood panels above with natural lighting. It was a gorgeous workspace actually.

The sigh of security guards sweeping the hallways made her pause. They looked like a fucking swat team. From a technical point of view, it wasn't like she was expecting Paul Bart levels of security - this was a little much for one petite woman. She slid into a room quietly without being seen. Parker nearly exhaled as consolation until she realized that she was now in a room full of other people. Rows upon rows of people were seated at computers and it didn't take long for her to determine that this was the computer tech section of the building. Not a single person seemed to notice that she's entered the room just yet and though she'd like to keep it that way, the woman knew it wasn't possible. This was supposed to be a get-in get-out type of thing and that couldn't happen if she lingered for too long.

It would be a challenge to find the CEO in the chromed fortress and she needed to ask someone for help. Parker scanned the room looking for someone she could speak to without raising the alarm.

Everyone else looked too serious to approach. The woman's name tag read 'Anika' and Parker thought it was pretty. She wore glasses and a colored sweater while munching on a candy bar.

"Um excuse me...do you know where I can find Stan Edgar?"

There's recognition in her gaze as she meets Parker's eyes. "Sure. He's on the 82nd floor. You new around here Did someone invite you to the tower?"

That was a weird question. "Uh...yeah." she answers.

"Cool. And just so you know, there's a Dunkin donuts on the 22nd floor. I usually prefer Starbucks though."

"I'll keep that in mind." Parker nods.

She leaves the room with a destination in mind this time - her walking pace has turned into a brisk power walk. The woman had already made the decision to leg it without looking back if she came across any security guards. The stakes were too high and her shoes were loud on the floor. Already, she'd been wandering for ten minutes and was on edge for the entire ten. By now there had to be various guards scattered across different floors searching for her and she couldn't stay on one floor for too long.

Around every corner sat sculpted busts and statues while huge posters were hung on nearly every wall she passed. There were portraits of The Seven everywhere. She stopped in front of one in particular - it was a picture of Homelander smiling brightly. With his piercing blue eyes, charming smile, and suit that bore the colors of the American flag. Oftentimes, she wondered about him. Was he cut from the same cloth as Black Noir? Was he really as morally upright as the public believed he was? Was there any humanity inside him? America's shining light they called him. Suddenly, she found that hard to believe.

They would storm this floor soon, she had to act fast. Parker didn't even have a proper escape plan other than to somehow get out undetected. The sound of a heavy door opening startles her for a second then a slim woman in a pants suit barked orders at the group as they all filed out of a room with gigantic double doors, the inside of which she was unable to make out from her vantage eyes widened as she watched the team of supes exit from the room altogether - first Starlight, A-Train, then Maeve. Followed by a new woman then her heart prompt drops as Black Noir comes into view. Parker swiftly dipped behind the corner to avoid being seen.

Parker's body reacted well before her mind did, the result being an overwhelming cluster fuck of confusion. Her entire demeanor changed. The confident, determined air around her dissipated, leaving nothing but a fight or flight response. She felt like she was suffocating.

Everything has slowed down, Parker could hear nothing aside from her loudly beating heart and deafening white noise in her ears. Her knees buckled and her vision started to fail as if she was going to faint. The paralyzing fear that shook her to her core even after she thought she'd gotten past it. The was a clear reminder that it was always lurking around the corner, just waiting to prove her wrong. She needed to get out of here. Right now. She could not risk fainting out in the open.

Parker reached out for balance on a nearby wall and moved back towards the ways he came. Her original plan was not being abandoned in favor of escaping the threat of being discovered. If Black Noir caught unto what she planned to do, she stood an immense chance of being murdered.

The wave of panic had subsided for now. In the end, she'd accomplished nothing. All of this was a massive failure but she wasn't deterred. Although Parker couldn't afford to freeze up like that in the future, it might end up being detrimental to her. In situations like this time was crucial.

God had to be on her side.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Parker pulled into the parking space of the building that was programmed into her phone's GPS. The structure looked somewhat dilapidated. She accidentally stepped on some broken glass as she made the trek up to the decrepit place. It was a wonder that it was still standing. The brickwork looked like it would tumble it if the wind was strong enough. The night sky was filled with clouds and the moon glowed up ahead brightly.

This was about taking a step towards recovery from the sexual trauma, stress, and the mental collapse brought on by it. For her, it was extremely hard to regulate the irregular emotions that manifested on a near daily basis and she was left unsure on how to proceed with life sometimes. It has been two days since that episode happened at Vought. Connecting with others who've gone through the same trauma might alleviate the pain and help him to move forward. At least, that's what the hope was. Right now, she had to make a commitment to these meetings for at least two days out of the week. That wasn't that hard - some would say easily achievable.

The moment she stepped through the door the first thing she noticed was that there was a dank smell lingering in the place that she quickly determined had to be caused by water damage. The second more alarming thing was that all eyes had centered on her, the sight of which made her want to turn around and go right back out the door. The poor lighting in the room casted a dim shine over the occupants. The group consisted of about 7-8 other women sitting in a circle, not including the facilitator that resembled a free-spirited art teacher that everyone had at some point in middle school. Parker straightened her spine, putting on a brave, tough face in front of the other women, not wanting to show any fear or vulnerability in a setting that was specifically designed to bring those out.

She couldn't stand the numerous pairs of eye gawking at her so openly. Uneasiness blossomed inside her chest at being the newcomer though she knew that she was not the first to feel this way. They all had probably undergone the same experience at some point.

She feared being judged and she genuinely could do without it. The coldness from the plastic chair seeped into the fabric of her pants. She generally avoided everyone's gaze as she sat down in the last cold, empty seat.

"Thank you all for joining me here tonight."

"Here everyone can cope with their emotions. Whether that consists of depression, anxiety, anger, or guilt. We are all here to support each other. This is a safe space free of judgment and everyone's input is important."

"I understand that certain discussion topics might be triggering but for the sake of the group, I recommend remaining calm and resolute. Everything you reveal here will remain confidential, all thoughts, and feelings associated with your own experiences."

"We women have to stick together. We're all we have." One woman positively chimed in.

Parker could tell that woman was dealing with some kind of drug use. Her hair was thinning and she looked a bit malnourished. She was fidgeting in her seat, unable to stay still for even a second. Sadly, not everyone was capable of keeping their mental stability intact while the world around them fell apart. It was hard for people to battle their inner demons sometimes and Parker wished that the woman had gotten the help she needed well before the drugs took a hold on her life.

Parker sat quietly as various individuals took turns introducing themselves and talking about their own experiences. A few were abused as children, others during their teenage and adult years. She listened to one woman talking about her background.

"Hi I'm Tonya. I'm thirty-two years old and I was raped by my commanding officer when I was twenty-two."

Parker tried not to but her lip curled. That seriously shocked her to hear. Over ten years and she was still suffering the drawbacks. The realization crushed her spirit a little before she ultimately decided to push it down.

Was that the fate that awaited her? It couldn't be. She held unto the hope. It was all she had at the moment.

Theoretically, there is no 'correct' way to heal from trauma but in the meantime, it's important to have some support.

When it was her turn to share, Parker deliberated for a few moments until she couldn't stand the agonizing silence anymore. Parker drew her limbs closer to her body, seemingly retreating into herself. She just had to come out and say it. "It took alot for me to come here."

Translation: She really didn't want to be here.

This was supposed to be therapeutic.

"No one knows. Not even my close friends." She explained, eyes never leaving the shiny, tiled floor. She didn't want to see their reactions.

"Most of you have probably escaped or left your attacker. My assault is still ongoing...and I don't know when it's gonna stop. It's broken me." Her voice broke against her will, filled with enough raw emotion that she had to fight against it. That was all she cared to share.

How is confessing to strangers easier than confessing to her own friends and family? Speaking of which, Parker wasn't so sure if she ever wanted to disclose the secret to her friends. It was the issue of not wanting to affect their lives. Not everyone needed to know what was going on in her life.

Her problem was that she had trouble processing her emotions in regards to being assaulted on top of still grieving and never fully accepting her deaths being gone even after all these years. But that's what she was - a woman seeking support from other women who went through the same experience. Though in retrospect, she always thought that no one could tell her how to feel towards anything. Everyone on this rotating planet lived different lives.

The facilitator took over once more. "Sometimes, it's easier to forgive than hold things in. What happened should not have to weigh on your conscience, it should weigh on the person that committed the atrocity."

Parker's fingers curled into a tight fist, her posture grew stiff, shoulders squared. The woman made it hard to swallow the bitter anger on her tongue. Each time she visualized every instance it set her soul aglow. Her jaw had grown sore from clenching it and grinding her teeth together agitation. She willed herself to be calm and level-headed despite the emotions churning on the inside. She needed to repress the all-consuming fire burning through her frame.

In another headspace, would she be capable of being all forgiving? She didn't have a suitable answer at this time. Even if the supe flat out explained his intentions to her, she could never truly understand why he chose to go about it the way he did. His actions were inexcusable no matter how one tried to spin it. For her to already have emotional triggers, he'd done nothing but add unnecessary baggage on top of that. Parker was tired of having to look over her shoulder everywhere she went. Shame clung to her like a second layer of skin. None of the women held an attraction to their attacker either. That's how her situation differed from the other women. She was too young to be this conflicted and worn out and she'd had enough. She was taking back control of her life.

Parker stood up from her chair and headed towards the exit. She had to step outside for some fresh air to calm her nerves. The chilly wind hit her face hard and she closed her eyes for a few seconds to take it in. The door behind her opened and one of the women from the circle joined her outside. The women stood next to her, almost jostling her shoulder as she wrapped a scarf around her neck.

"Hi, I'm Lalia." She says, extending her hand out for a handshake. Her face was round and her eyes were shaped like almonds. The woman has a cheery disposition and there was a jovial air around her. It was enough to put Parker's anxiety on the backburner for the time being.

Parker gave the woman a tight-lipped smile as she reluctantly took it. "Parker."

"My daughter watches your YouTube channel."

The younger woman's eyebrows rose. "Oh."

"Yeah, she's a big fan of yours." She continued explaining.

Being recognized on the street had only happened a few times before but she didn't expect to be noticed at something like this. In any instance it was still peculiar. "I'm flattered."

"I'm originally from Rhode Island but I moved here about a year ago. Needed to start all over."

"That must've been rough."

She let out a noise of affirmation, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and lighting one. "Very...but I had a few friends that helped me."

A beat of silence passed between them.

"Why didn't you tell them?" She asked, eyes filled with seriousness and concern. "Your friends...your family."

Parker took in a deep breath and weighed her answer carefully. "They don't need to know."

"Why?"

"Because he's not...there isn't anything they can do to help me. Except to never find out. It's better that way. Better for everyone."

Smoke surrounded them both.

"It's never good to suffer in silence you know. There's nothing wrong with asking for help."

Parker nodded absently. "I know."

There was something that was eating at her though - she didn't really know if she wanted to vocalize it so bit the inside of her cheek.

"How do you know if you're doing the right thing?" She asked hesitantly.

There's a flicker of surprise in the woman's eyes then she responds, "You'll know."

Lalia drops her cigarette to the ground and steps on it to put it out. She then moves to go back inside with the rest of the people.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Parker folded the last article of clothing before she set about pulling them in their designated drawers. She'd been in an enthused mood for the past few days and she didn't want the frame of mind to disappear anytime soon. The first few group sessions were different but by the fifth, Parker was feeling pretty comfortable. Miss Hopper had suggested some healthy coping mechanisms and so far they'd all been working. Today, she felt more refreshed and energized than she felt in a long while. She was finally able to get a full night's rest as well.

The doorbell seized her attention, pulling her from her innermost thoughts. Once she reaches the front door, the package is placed neatly on the doorstep, whoever put it there was long gone. Not that it was shocking, UPS drivers were notorious for dropping a package off and running back to their drivers to speed off in a blaze of glory. She assumed it was either a game to them or a time thing.

With each day, a different gift had arrived on her doorstep. She was grateful and flattered by the gifts but she wasn't really feeling this, not by a long-shot. This was weird, stalker-like behavior and she was highly concerned. After all, things were getting sent straight to her doorstep now and that was alarming in itself. That meant that they knew where she lived and of course that wasn't comforting to know. In particular, a new gaming console was left on her doorstep the other day that was even supposed to be released until mid-September.

Who the fuck could afford Ivy Park merch two weeks after everything had sold out? Beyonce's Ivy Park merchandise was known for selling out in minutes and she'd been like many other unfortunate fans who weren't able to get their hands on it in time. As much as she'd like to, she didn't have the time to linger on the website and snatch it up as soon as it became available. She rummaged through the box filled with clothes and shoes. Everything looked like it was in her size as well. Right down to the shoe size. Whoever was sending this had some pull and access that normal people dream of having. That eluded a waiter from the equation entirely.

It took a lot to come to the conclusion that she was being entirely too hard on herself and she decided to stop being so unkind to herself as a result. She'd stopped spending nights curled up on the sofa with an electric blanket eating up everything in the kitchen. While that was appealing it was the wrong thing to do for someone in her unique position. People wouldn't understand the work she did emotionally and mentally to get in the headspace she was now. So far Parker had been rock steady about holding it together, No emotional breakdowns no depression episodes. It all was very reassuring. No more hyperventilating in front of the bathroom mirror. She was slowly starting to beat all of the uncharacteristic feelings down and it only fueled the penance to return to her old life before everything happened. The life she maintained before him.

She was slightly tired but she knew that she'd probably be awake until three in the morning again. Parker had made the decision to film herself cutting her bangs and the ends of her hair after a wash. Aside from gaming, Parker showcased content ranging from cooking and natural hair tutorials since those were the main pastimes that she enjoyed. From those three only, she developed a pretty loyal, dedicated following. The majority didn't fret over her taking long absences or not uploading for a while. The people were patient and understanding that she had a life outside of Youtube and that content won't be uploaded on a regular basis. At least until she established a bit of stability and got a better handle on time management first.

Parker would release content on her own time, when she felt like it and no amount of spamming the comment section would change that. People were too entitled these days.

One thing she was proud about was not having to use any makeup to cover up any dark circles around her eyes. Her skin had begun clearing up, not that ever had a problem with ache. The life had returned to it, giving it a natural glow. For the first time in a while, she didn't maintain a mangy appearance. She was back putting in the effort to look good in public and in the safety of her own home. It meant she was making progress.

Parker looked at the basket in her bedroom and sighed. Every time she blinked her laundry basket was full and she was sick of it. Earlier she had a conversation over the phone with her grandmother and the older woman took no time complaining about her not visiting often. At the admission, Parker felt bad and assured her that she'd take some time off to come visit for a few days. When she was a child, Parker loved to stay over with her grandmother. Her mother always complained that she got away with murder when in the vicinity of the matriarch and looking back now as an adult - she was completely right. It didn't matter what she did, her grandmother would shield her from any and all. She wasn't allowed to be spanked at grandma's house ever.

It wasn't lost on her that the old woman was getting lonely since she lived alone in a small house out in the country away from the city. Unfortunately, Parker's grandfather had died when she was two years old and she didn't much remember him. His wife always spoke fondly of him and never remarried out of love and devotion for him. Parker found it sweet but wholly sad at the same time.

Parker reset the timer on the dryer for it to do another spin cycle for the last time. Parker then made her way into the bedroom, crawled back into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, inhaling the scent of fresh linen. It was almost six o'clock in the evening and she could use a small nap after doing household chores for the better part of the day. Sleep was clawing at her determinedly and she was too exhausted to resist.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Stan leaned back into his chair, one hand tapping a pen along the desk to a tune only he could hear, while the other hand held an IPad. The device was showing several different areas where the cameras captured footage of a young woman aimlessly wandering the tower. He'd been informed of a possible security breach days ago, but he was just now reviewing the footage. Whatever she was searching for, she couldn't quite seem to find. His eyes lingered on a paused image for a long while. Whatever that was - he'd say it had to be of great importance.


	4. Light's Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I really don't know what this chapter is supposed to be, might be a space filler. There hasn't been much Parker/Black Noir interaction and I guess this chapter is just a slight deviation to hold y'all over until we start getting into the heavy smut territory that's on the way. I got some good shit coming y'all way and I'm excited about it. My finals are over and all I want to do is write for y'all. Thanks for reading my loves!
> 
> PS: I'm still totally open to any ideas concerning this story so feel free to hit those comments anytime! Since the semester's over I'll have plenty of time to write and get chapters out faster.

Parker roused herself out of sleep, her phone vibrating insistently on the nightstand. Lifting her head groggily from the soft pillow, she reached for the annoying device and wasn't surprised to find Cassidy on the end of it. "Get dressed. We're going out."

"Nope." She sighed tiredly.

"But why?" Cassidy challenged.

"I don't really feel like it." Parker explained, rubbing a hand over her eyes to get rid of the sleep.

Cassidy released a telling sigh and Parker heard it many times before right before she resorted to coercion tactics. "Are you sure? It's the club that's got those buffalo wings."

Parker's eyes widened, suddenly sitting up in bed. "The ones wrapped in melted cheese?"

"Yep."

The vet assistant grimaced. She should have known better; food had always been both a weakness and motivation for her. Sometimes it was the only justification she could use when she needed to convince herself to go through with something that she necessarily didn't want to do. The way she saw it - at least she'd be getting something out of it. "Alright I'll go...but only for the wings. And I'm not staying long so you better get your fun in while you can."

"Alright, we'll be over in a second. Be ready!" Cassidy happily urged before the line when dead.

Parker's arms flopped to the bed with an exhale; silently contemplating whether she really wanted to go out. She hasn't been to a club in a while. She really doesn't want to leave the comfort of her bed especially after such a great nap - but she figures that it would do her some good to get out for once. Especially now since those wings were thrown into the equation. What's the worst that can happen?

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Parker, Cassidy, and Jordan arrived at the venue just after nine. The place is dimly lit, almost packed and the music is blasting pretty loud from the speakers. The nightclub is full of high-energy clientele. They say that New York is the place that never sleeps and she's inclined to believe it. This isn't the type of place she would frequent in order to unwind from her daily routine. In fact, being here now reminded her of how she avoided going. Frankly, she preferred laid-back crowds as opposed to sweat-inducing parties. Thankfully the place didn't implicate a corny fog machine like most clubs would've. This was the type of club that trashy reality shows tended to film in, that was the vibe she got from it. Too bad she didn't have a Birkin bag or drink to throw at someone from across the room. That would make for good tv ratings.

She spotted Qua across the room sitting with a woman in a small VIP area she'd never seen before. None of this was surprising - Qua could hardly be without the company of a woman for long. And if she had to guess, the pair had probably just met and were already hitting it off. This type of thing happened often with Qua, he just had that kind of charm that attracted people and made them want to be around him. She'd seen him work his magic and it wasn't not something to sneeze at. The woman would likely be sharing a bed with him tonight if her attention didn't linger elsewhere. Walking through the growing crowd, Parker ignored a group of vultures catcalling her, telling her how great her ass looked in her dress. And just like that, she was reminded of how she wanted to be at home rather than here.

Parker grabbed the other woman's shoulder to get her attention. "I'm gotta sit at the bar and order my wings.", she specified, having to nearly shout over the music so she could hear.

Cassidy looked to the bar then back to Parker. "Will you be okay over here?"

"Yeah. I'm just gonna order the wings and I'll be over there in a minute."

"Okay." Her and Jordan continued over presumably to where Qua was and Parker made her way towards the bar that also functioned as a small bistro section. As luck would have it, there's an empty chair that she couldn't wait to sit on. Parker wouldn't even bother to maneuver through the moving bodies all night, she felt more comfortable sitting down especially with the shoes she was wearing. She and Cass had established a safety protocol just in case. If either of you were in danger, you'd send the other the red alarm emoji through text.

The chair had leather cushioning that was somewhat comfortable for thighs but she was more hung up on how neat the alcohol and shot glasses were stacked on the wall behind the burly bartender who reminded her of a younger, less muscled Vin Diesel.

"Can I get water?" She had no intention of consuming any alcohol tonight. She had to give props to the DJ, he was playing some bangers tonight that had her vibing even as she sat in one of the chairs at the bar away from the mass of dancing bodies. The lack of desire not to go to a club doesn't bother her in the slightest. She was not a seasoned clubber in the first place and was fairly content with it. "Oh...and can I get an order of cheesy wrapped buffalo wings?"

The man nodded, sitting down the glass he was cleaning and went into the back, likely to put in the order to the cook. She was thrumming with excitement, she could almost feel her tastebuds watering. Discovering the wings was like a pirate finding a long lost treasure. Those wings had done something magical to her the first time she tasted them. It didn't help that her friends knew of her unhealthy obsession with certain foods and sometimes used it to bribe her.

A body slid up next to her at the bar. Parker shot the guy a skeptical look, resting bitch face is on full display while the guy practically beams at her. The guy was standing uncomfortably close to her, close enough that she could smell the dank cologne wafting off of him.

"Are you here with someone? A boyfriend maybe?"

"Friends. I don't really want to be here." Unwanted attention was the last thing she felt like dealing with right now; just to have him in her proximity was distressing and had she not been waiting on her wings to come out, Parker would go join the others on the opposite side of the club.

"There any reason why you're at the bar all by yourself?" The guy asked, his voice was slightly louder than all the chatter and music.

Parker focused her gaze on a piece of chipped wood from the counter. "Trying to enjoy my night alone."

"I can understand that. I'm Quentin by the way." He says, extending his hand for her to take.

The young woman's brow quirked at the gesture. She knew what it was, it was an attempt at closeness and getting to know her better. Sadly, she's not really open to that at the moment. Parker was naturally paranoid about any and everything at this stage in life, so her guard would never be let down that easily. As far as she could tell, he was barking up the wrong tree.

"Hmmm." Like most women, Parker felt the anxiety and discomfort when in the vicinity of a bold, relentless man. Her stiff body language alone should be enough to deter him but clearly he was set on his goal. If he thought he was going to get laid tonight, he was sorely mistaken.

"No handshake huh? That's okay. I get it." He pulled back.

He's a smooth talker this one; can't be trusted by any means. Just because a person is nice to you doesn't mean they're a nice person. The haircut is a dead giveaway. He was one of the typical men most women will encounter at least once while in a nightclub; perusing the club scene often brought out these types of people. It's a shame to think that he might be having moderate success attracting women in this perverse way. These types of places are a haven for would-be harassers. Hell, the guy might as well have a wingman for all his efforts.

Parker craned her neck to look at him. A dark skinned man, questionable looking facial hair, teeth that looked too big for his mouth to contain. In all, he was pretty average in her book. He was too smug, too confident and it was throwing her off. That and the patchy beard. Her friends were still somewhere near the VIP and the dancefloor and she doubted they could see over the crowd of people. Qua would sure run the guy off without her having to ask. Parker had about three more polite responses in her before she started getting more pensive because the way things were headed…

"I don't usually talk to black girls but…" He started.

Disgust settles in the pit of her stomach. Was that supposed to be a complement? If he knew how dickish he sounded then he would shut up completely. She doesn't take men's backhanded compliments and opinions seriously because it's usually rooted in misogyny. "Then why are you here?"

"I'm here because I wanted to entertain the company of a beautiful woman. Now are you free tonight or is it gonna cost me?" He posed, giving her a sly sideways glance.

"I'm sure you don't have enough money to impress me. And even if you did I still wouldn't be impressed."

Incapable of coming up with a witty response he was no doubt racking his brain for, Quentin threw out another pathetic pick-up line. "You look great by the way, but do you know what really looks good on you? Me."

"Okay, if you say one more lame pick-up line I'm going to throw this glass of water in your face."

With pickup lines not working, he opted for another approach.

"See this watch?" He asked, extending his wrist over for her to see. "I paid almost $10,000 for it."

Parker takes small sips of the water, eyes trained on the wings in the to-go container being brought over to her. "Seems irresponsible."

You know when you agree to go out with friends and end up regretting it later? This was one of those times.

The man is going about it in the wrong way for starters. She had a firsthand account on how horrible those men could be to women - the ones that flashed their wealth. Trying to lure her in with money would never work. Never. People leave their morals behind quickly when the 'idea' of money is on the table. Good thing Parker, she is not one of those people.

Was he really that self-absorbed?

"Perhaps, I can buy you a drink then?"

Parker's hand grasped tightly around the glass of water, not willing to let it out of her sight for a second after hearing that. "Perhaps not."

He snapped his fingers at the bartender. "Let me get two shots of Jägermeister over here!"

Her brows drew down upon hearing that, her lips were pressed together tightly and she hadn't smiled not once. By now he had to gage just how utterly unfazed she was by his antics. Parker knew his game; the plan was to get her inebriated enough that she became more receptive to his advances and it wasn't going to happen. It was mind-boggling the lengths he seemed willing to go.

Once the bartender slides him the drinks, he downs one and slides another shot glass over to her. Parker completely ignored the gesture. "I don't accept drinks from strangers.

She thought she was pretty adamant about not returning his sentiments. Totally serious about him not using her to satisfy his boyish desires. He seemed like the type to present himself as something he wasn't, not like she expected any different but still. This situation is vaguely familiar - being harassed by a man. The night was turning unsavory already.

He chuckled, shaking his head as if something was funny. "You're more aggressive than I thought but I'm willing to give chase."

So he's a misogynist and a colorist. Perfect.

Parker's patience had long since run out for meaningless exchanges having decided to only give her time and energy to those who were generally trying to build a real connection. People who can create phoney connections for sex are dangerous.

Parker shook her head in a firm fashion. "No, I'm good."

The man then tried to slide his hand over hers as it laid placidly on the countertop. Parker quickly snatched it out of his reach. "Do you normally grab people's hands without their permission?" She seethed.

His face contorted into scowl that quickly changed into a fake smile. "Why so uptight?"

You can always tell when a guy gets no attention or play from other women, it shows up in their words and behavior.

Parker placed her fingers to her forehead in frustration. She couldn't stand the fact that he was all smiles while she sat there fuming at his presence. "Social norms haven't changed. We never liked men touching us without our permission. We never liked men saying all kinds of shit to to us. Stop trying to convince yourself that I'm giving mixed signals. I don't want any dealings. Point blank."

"Listen, I think you're getting the wrong idea of me." He places his phone on the counter and slides it closer to her. "We should talk about that. Why don't you put your number in my phone."

Oh the dedication...the delusion.

She'd rather swallow a Popeyes biscuit with no water.

With every second he used to try and press further communication, Parker's discomfort grew. This was why she should've stayed her ass in bed. Nightclubs housed all kinds of weirdos. She didn't trust him. A fake smile would never have her completely sold.

"You're not bored of me already are you?"

Parker clenched her jaw, expression firmly set. Bold of him to assume that she wasn't already bored when he walked over. She was floored by how hard he was going and he wasn't even trying to be subtle about it. She couldn't compute that type of stupidity. She had a zero tolerance for men like him. Even though he spoke with much inflection in his voice, Parker felt as if the charisma was only there to mask something else underneath. Red flags had been flying for a while now.

"Can you not...please leave me alone."

"Just trying to be upfront. I know women prefer it that way."

Parker subconsciously rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. There wasn't anything wrong with him approaching her, it was his inability to accept that she wasn't interested and move on that was the real problem. Specifically after she was blatantly communicating that she wasn't interested. He's purposely refusing to take no for an answer. The plan was to extend the awkward silence until he walked away.

The loud sound of someone hitting the floor behind her made Parker turn her head for a split second, seeing a group of women attending to their intoxicated friend who was unable to keep her balance. They probably realized that it was time for her to go home. Parker herself, deemed it a good judgement call.

Purposely ignoring his last statement, Parker decided that she needed to take a breather. Sliding out of the seat, Parker's eyes scanned the place for the bathroom, walking away as quickly as the heels would allow.

Parker couldn't lie, club bathrooms are and probably forever be a strange place. There you see women at their best and absolute worst. Thankfully, it's not overflowing with women taking selfies. However, she did have to tune out the sound of someone vomiting in one of the stalls in favor of looking at herself in the reflection. She didn't feel like putting on any makeup, or more accurately, didn't have the time to. Good thing her skin had regained it's natural luster so she would not have to walk around looking like the walking dead.

The creepy jerk at the bar was trying it and her patience was nonexistent. She really could've decked him right in the face but she didn't want to ruin any process she'd made over the week and that was the only thing keeping her temper at bay. Otherwise she might've beat him with a barstool just for annoying her. She doesn't know where men get the audacity.

Staring in the not so cloudy mirror, Parker suddenly felt the random urge to get her life back on track. The feeling was wild and familiar because she knew for a fact that she'd be back on the same bullshit two minutes later. Was her life really that hectic that she couldn't even enjoy the tiniest moment of happiness without it getting trampled by responsibility? Hardly not. So she could do without the reminder of needing to get it together. Not only that, but Parker felt like she was in a contrast state of losing and finding herself over and over again. And it sucks. Come to think of it, it might be a combination of mania and self-reflection. She'd linger at the bar for a few more minutes then inform the group that she was leaving.

A toilet flushes and a woman emerges from the shall to hopefully wash her hands. She was a redhead wearing a sparkly green dress. Parker thought the combination was cute and made her look like Poison Ivy. She doesn't get the chance to compliment the woman though seeing as she already beat her to the punch.

"Oh my gosh. I love your dress." She excitedly expresses, eyes shining.

It's not hard for Parker to offer her a genuine smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You're so pretty. I wish I had your cheekbones." she continued and Parker was worried that this would end up turning into a compliment contest.

"I'm not all that." She brushed it off.

Having already sensed that the woman was more than a little tipsy, Parker tried not to be surprised when the woman affectionately held both of her hands in hers. "Are you serious?! You're gorgeous!"

"Thanks. I like your earrings. They're really cute."

"Oh yeah, I got them from that little fashion store on fifth street while I was thrifting. I thought they would cost me an arm and a leg but nope. Only five dollars."

"Sounds like a pretty good deal."

Gaining these little sink-side besties through conversations are one of the greatest things about going to a club. The woman certainly lightened up her mood from the place it was just minutes ago. The conversation lasted for about ten minutes until the woman finally left the bathroom to possibly rejoin her friends. Parker decides it's time for her to head back to the bar for her wings, she doesn't even want to wait anymore. She pulls out her phone and shoots a quick text to Cass that she was leaving.

The biggest relief however, is seeing that the guy was gone from his place at the bar. The water didn't look tampered with, in fact she expected it to be taken away by a staff member before she returned. Even though all of that didn't matter, she wasn't going to drink from the glass anyway especially after it's been sitting here out in the opening. That's a cardinal rule. Never leave your drink alone. Parker pushed it aside and ordered another water. Her throat was parched and she needed some a quick drink before she called an uber. She secured the plastic container of wings in her left hand and closed the other around the glass.

Despite that, the arm holding the glass won't move, almost like it was too heavy for her to lift. Parker started to feel lightheaded, her body growing too relaxed and sluggish for her liking. It was like her brain was short-circuiting and she was struck by the feeling. Not to mention, her hand-to-eye coordination was way off. Her ability to think clearly was rapidly fading and her mind wasn't allowing her to panic at the all too sudden change. All Parker felt was confusion and acute dizziness. The bar seemed like it was getting closer and closer until everything went back.

Quentin's hand stopped her falling head before it could make contact with the hand countertop.

He wrapped an arm around her waist to straighten her spine and keep her slumped figure upright. Knowing that if she was in a limp position, people would get suspicious. He had to get her out of the club without drawing any eyes. He commenced to sidling her away while no one paid any attention. He'd purposely sat at the bar with her for a while to give the bartender the impression that they knew each other. And if that didn't work he'd planned to follow her home anyway.

A look into her eyes confirmed that she wasn't actually there. Her pupils were dilated and she was enveloped in a deep docile state. He recognized the look in many other women before. "The roofie effects work pretty quick." He mumbled.

"I knew you wouldn't go for the water again. That's why I had to slip it in while you were distracted. I almost couldn't get it in with you keeping it so close. So much for being careful huh little bitch?" He whispered.

"You didn't fall for the usual shit like the others did. I'm surprised."

Of all the he'd rendered vulnerable. She had to be the most difficult to snatch. "I thought I might have to give up on you but it turns out you're just as stupid as the rest. So everything worked out."

"Not so self-aware now are you?"

He coaxed her slacked body towards the direction of his car in the back parking lot out of view from the buildings cameras. Once he made it to his car, he positioned her on her back within the backseat.

A hand grips the back of his head and pulls him away with a sharp yank. He barely has time to voice his surprise before he's thrown back with extreme force into the concrete pavement. Pain radiates throughout his back and shoulders.

"What the - what the fuck?!"

He's ready to brawl until he actually sees who his attacker is standing in between him and his conquest. Black Noir's body language spoke volumes and judging by the sheer malice wafting off the supe in waves, he had to be pissed.

Fear arrested every inch of his now trembling frame. "Whoa man...I don't want any trouble. Me and my girlfriend just had a few drinks and we just got a little frisky is all." He tries to explain, holding up his hands in what can be interpreted as surrender but was more than likely to show he wasn't a threat.

The superhero picked up on the now rapidly beating heart and change in breathing. The fear no doubt etched into his subconscious. If not for that, the look on his face would have told it all. Not caring to hear a word of what the asshole was was trying to feed him, Black Noir began advancing closer like a predator to its prey. There was no intention of drawing this out any longer than necessary even though the piece of shit deserved to be tortured, his main priority was Parker's safety. At least she would get some enjoyment from his death.

The man scrambled to grab an empty beer bottle from its place on the ground, intending to cause some damage even though he knew trading blows with the supe could very well be a death sentence. In a burst of energy, he lunged aiming the broken glass straight for the stealthy ninja's chest cavity. Only he was met with the sturdy material of the black suit's breastplate.

It was then that he knew he should have just legged it out of there. The supe is a high-functioning, trained killer. Based off of that alone, he doesn't stand a chance of getting out of this alive. Aside from Homelander, Black Noir couldn't be reasoned with - from the moment he stepped on the scene, violence was automatically the favored course of option.

Noir took a strong hold on his hand, adding pressure until the bones were crunching and snapping out of the skin. Quentin screamed in agony, knees giving out due to the pain. A forearm came up to strike him in the face and a few of his teeth flew from his mouth and blood splattered onto the pavement. His body slammed into the ground once more and it was there where he realized that he couldn't hear anything from his left ear. He couldn't even more anymore.

He knew his actions would eventually catch up to him but this was just the cruelest chance of fate.

Death's very emissary was here...

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Black Noir gently laid Parker on the soft neatly made-up bed within her room.

When he followed her and her friends to the club, he didn't actually know what to expect. A routine check-up on her resulted in him finding him a scumbag attempting to assault her. If these were the types of things that went on in his absence then he simply wouldn't go long periods without seeing her. He felt his blood-lust rising again. Black Noir's blood was boiling and he hadn't felt this angry in a while. He clenched and unclenched his fists while the anger continued to mount. Had the man been given an opportunity to harm her, Black Noir didn't know what he would've done.

An incident like this couldn't happen again - he would not allow it.

None of the lights were on in the house but he can still see her clearly without any obscurities. The bedroom would be pitch black had it not been for the moonlight shining through the curtains. She was passed out, curly hair disheveled, face flushed even in a state of unconsciousness. He brushed the wild locks from her face. The long eyelashes fanning the top of her cheekbones. There were no visible injuries he could detect, he suspected that she'd likely been drugged. Though neither scenarios are any better than the other. She looked like she was asleep - albeit a deep asleep. He took care to monitor her breathing, making sure that her airways were normal and not at critical levels.

Her phone had been vibrating with calls and messages presumably from her negligent friends. They wanted to know where she was. On a whim, the supe picked up the phone and sent a short message indicating that she was home. Had he not, they would come looking and he'd rather not have any time with her disturbed.

Any sort of clothing easily accentuates her figure, bringing attention to her hips and thighs respectfully. Tonight was no exception. She possessed so many desirable attributes it was no wonder that she attracted the wrong attention. Her beautiful face is peaceful, breaths small and shallow as they passed through her slightly parted lips. And those plump lips; she had the most gorgeous smile he'd ever seen. If only she'd smile for him. He knew that she was capable, the pictures displayed all around her home were a testament to that. He longed for a time where he could capture her lip with hers.

He freed his hands from the gloves. Though he didn't voice his desires, he was fully capable of acting on them.

Black Noir's gloveless hand crept to the hem of the dress. The degree of possession he felt over her was insurmountable - and he wouldn't have it any other way. This small, ferocious woman could twist and bend his will as much as she liked. Everything between them should not be a hostile affair.

How apt.

His arousal still made itself known, dick jumping in his pants. Her body excited him and he yearned for her against his will. He set about removing the thin article of clothing, rendering her partly naked to his view. She held completely still and he had to remind himself that she was in a state where she wasn't aware of what was going on. She would offer no protests or struggles tonight. He wouldn't have to hold down a squirming, resistant body in place.

Oftentimes, he wasn't usually allowed to play and explore her body like this. She wasn't conscious to receive him so there would be no heavy petting tonight.

The brown skin is so soft and warm. Black Noir's form is nearly thrumming with anticipation as he slowly revealed more of her flesh to his waiting gaze. The supe took in the sight of her jostling breasts, a great deal of his attention focused on the delectable looking dark areola. His bare hands worked to lift the dress over her stomach, his breath caught and he faltered for a brief second. Fingertips splaying across the flat surface of her tummy, ghosting her navel. Pulling down the black material until it completely off her body, exposing her most sacred place to his perusal.

The thought that he wasn't supposed to be doing this was present but he couldn't find it in himself to stop. To care. It had been entirely too long and the supe was anxious to feel his skin against hers.

His rapt attention was focused solely on the tiny opening that would soon part to receive him and pulled his dick from his pants.

A low moan erupted from Parker's mouth when gentle fingers dipped below to rub the folds of her sensitive vulva. The slickness that he found there made his wanting even harder to contain. The scent of her was stifling.

Parker stirs but doesn't awaken. A small sigh is emitted from her mouth. It was a stark contrast seeing her features so placid and not fixed with rage. He cupped her right cheek in his bare hand, tilting her head upwards.

All of his touches are gentle as he looks the woman over. Every part of her was delicate under his exploring touch. Pressing her against the solid foundation that was his body, the supe could make out the sweltering heat that was her cunt. Although he was careful not to rest his full weight unto her form.

The mushroom tip presses against the tight entrance cautious not to bother her drug induced slumber. Her body lies pliant as Black Noir carefully maneuvers every inch of himself inside her. The relaxed muscles there made it easy for him to slip into her moist heat with ease though he made sure not to put too much pressure on her womanhood as he fell straight into her silken depths. He still stilled for a moment, seemingly in an effort to pace himself. The heat of her body is welcoming and he knew just how ultra-sensitive she could be. If she awoke to find him on top of her, she would surely try to claw him to death. There wasn't any tenseness, no resistance that met him.

Her inner muscles were taut as he whist the male focused on grinding rather than thrusting. He wanted to savor this moment, instead of having to finish as quickly as he could to accommodate her. Her inner thighs were raised high above his rocking hips, tight passage massing him as he began an easy pace of easing himself in and out. She reacted somewhat to his erotic ministrations, brows arching, head lulling back further on the pillow. She had to feel her flesh being penetrated even in her clouded state of mind. Guiding his engorged member gingerly towards her drenched labium.

He watched as Parker's stomach muscles contracted, an outline of his dick could be seen with each drawn out invasion of her frame. Pumping into her with precision. Retreating ever so carefully. She mewled softly even as her eyes remained closed she felt the pleasure. Gushing wetness surrounded his shaft.

Parker whimpered quietly, obviously confused at what she was feeling but unable to discern the feeling of the supe working her hot cavern. That pressure began building higher and higher until release was just on the horizon.

Black Noir quickly removes himself from her completely, methodically shifting upwards to climb over her, jerking his shaft as he moved into position. He felt the heat emitting from her mouth onto his tip. His hand jerked roughly until the pressure in his abdomen became unbearable and then he's cumming hard, spurting milky ropes into her parted lips. All of the sexual energy drained from his body.

He shakes his hand continuing to pull every single drop from his pulsing manhood. The ejaculated semen spills between her parted lips, unto her tongue before sliding towards the back of her throat. It's only when her face squelches up and her brows furrow that he realized that she's choking on his cum. The sharp intake of breath and choking noises are evidence of it. His hand quickly moved to press against her throat.

The fingers massage the column of skin there, coaxing her to swallow the essence. It wouldn't do for her to wake up and discover that she was filled to the brim with cum. It took him a few moments to come down from the high. He gave her head an affectionate rub. He couldn't wait for the day where he'd be able to experience her hot, wet mouth in its entirety. But he acknowledged that they were nowhere near that stage. For now, he had to take what he could get.

He pulled the covers over her body, after settling her more comfortably in the bed.

Black Noir set about placing himself back into his pants and refitting his gloves. Afterwards, Black Noir glanced at the bedside clock. Someone at the tower would probably go looking for him soon. Not that the realization provided any motivation to get back.


	5. Emotional Impasse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little short, got wild stuff is coming and I'm trying to hold off on Noir/Parker interactions for now. In other news, I'm working incredibly slow trying to update the other fics, I can't give an estimate but they're coming. School is schooling right now and I'm sick as hell of this snow. Hope y'all enjoy!

The sounds of birds chirping near Parker's bedroom window is the first thing she registers before her heavy eyelids slowly flutter open. Sunlight from the outside is letting in minimal light into the room and it makes her wince and turn away from the window. It's taking entirely too long for awareness to kick in. Her body feels heavier than cinder block and her head is pounding like a drum. With a headache like this one she knew it would hurt to move. The throbbing pain in her cranium is making her nauseated and the pulsing probably wouldn't subside for a while.

She's been feeling like shit more often than not and it's starting to get old. After about fifteen minutes, Parker decided that it would be better to just get up than risk staring up at the ceiling and risk vomiting all over herself. Bile hadn't made an appearance yet but she knew it was coming.

Reluctantly dragging herself up with a groan, Parker pulled herself out of bed, beginning a slow, wobbly trek to the bathroom. The pounding intensified, the effects dizzying. She doesn't even know what time it is and she's not all that motivated to look. It's pretty clear by this point that she won't be making it to work today and that's just fine with her. That leaves only one thing on the agenda.

"Oh my god…" Even the vibration from her own voice were debilitating.

She paused for a second when she wiggled her tongue and noticed a strange taste in her mouth. It's a salty, musky like taste lingering that she can't quite discern. She can't pinpoint where it might've come from and unfortunately it's stuck in the back of her throat.

She doesn't know what it is but she wants to get the taste out of her mouth as soon as possible. The first thing she does is grab her toothbrush and pile toothpaste on top of it. She brushes almost too furiously, determined to get every nook and cranny. Nearly choking herself when it comes time to brush her tongue, gagging and heaving more times than she can count. All in an effort to get rid of that unpleasant taste then topping it off with a cap full of Listerine.

At least, in the mirror she doesn't look half as bad as she feels.

With that taken care of, she goes over to the shower and turns the nobs. After last night, she desperately needs a shower that's for sure.

A shrill of pain shoots through her skull once more and she stumbles over to the medicine cabinet. Two Excedrin pills should do the trick. The seriousness of the pain makes her swallow both of them without water. Parker always thought people capable of swallow pills without having anything to drink were some of the strongest people on the planet. Right now, she was in too much pain to care and she just wanted the headache gone. She throws the now empty pill bottle into the small trash can.

Headache medication is now added to the growing list of items she needed to get from the store.

Parker plopped down on the toilet and pressed a hand to her ailing head.

Small fragments of the previous night could only be recalled. As the flashbacks run through her mind, Parker's suddenly concerned about what the hell could've possibly happened last night. The asshole at the bar was sketchy enough. Even if she'd gotten drunk, there's no way in hell she would've gone home with him or invited him to her house. But Parker didn't have a single shot glass of alcohol. In addition to that, she'd gotten home completely safe and she doesn't know how. She can't possibly be blacking out from water.

"What the hell."

Worse still, the area between her legs feels sensitive. All of this combined with the fact that she's sure that she left her wings. Those wings were the only reason she agreed to go out in the first place. That alone provided the perfect reason not to go out again for a long time.

Although she didn't have the enthusiasm to do much today, there was at least one thing she needed to do. With work totally out of the question, she definitely had some time on her hands and she wasn't going to spend it in bed watching tv.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

While walking the aisles of the store, a small green basket in hand, Parker grabbed everything to catch her attention as well as the obvious necessities. So far she'd gotten two boxes of Excedrin and a few toiletries.

Shopping is such a common, tedious task that Parker doesn't even notice when she's zoning out while she's in the midst of doing it. Even though she was making progress at first, right now she can't be bothered. Speaking of stores, she'd much rather go to the small convenience store near her apartment over the bigger grocery store across the city. A convenience store is designed to meet the needs of a short shopping trip and that's exactly what she wants. To get in and get out as quickly as possible. She wasn't even all that concerned with how she looked. Aside from the fact her hair is currently in the messiest bun known to mankind, she's dressed in an oversized weather and leggings. Baggy clothing is always comfortable, especially while making a store run. For months now, Parker only made a point of looking presentable at work.

She'd much preferred to stay in bed but when does anything ever go her way?

Normally, she'd have breakfast before going out but her appetite isn't all that active for some reason. And she won't force herself to eat. It always smells like blue slushy and plastic here.

Cassidy had sent her a few texts this morning slightly concerned.

When you said we had ten minutes, you really meant that huh? Why didn't you tell us before you left? - Cass

Honestly, I don't even remember when I left. - Parker

I thought you said you weren't gonna drink. - Cass

I didn't! - Parker

Well you had to drink something! - Cass

Truthfully, Parker didn't know what to tell her. She really didn't remember much from last night so you can't give a solid explanation.

There's a few magazines at the front with A-Train and The Deep on the covers. Her gaze lingered on the candy lined up below the counter, trying to decide on whether to buy a few of them. The impulse to overload on sweets is overwhelming but Parker pushes it down. She'll be better off without them. She can live without sweets but her addiction to nutrigrain bars and cereal made it hard. Some of the prices are downright ridiculous but that's normal. She tries not to make it a habit to come here for this reason alone. To make herself feel better she snatched up a few almond joys and placed them on the counter to be rung up with her other items.

A small tv overhead the cashier played non-stop advertisements at low volume.

The cashier hands her the receipt and she turns around quick enough to run straight into a hard chest that feels very much like a brick wall. The impact knocks the wind out of Parker and pulls her from her musing. Unsurprisingly, the 'brick wall' doesn't move an inch while she nearly falls back into the counter before big hands catch her around the waist to prevent that from happening.

The man's face has a hard edge to it even with the thickly trimmed mustache. His shoulders are squared firmly but not in a threatening manner. The dark trench coat obviously had Parker questioning more than a few things about him.

"Oai. Apologies for bumping into ya. Shop's a real tight squeeze." The British accent kind of threw Parker off for a second before she gathered her bearings once more. The snarky demeanor isn't what she would expect from someone that looks like he does. At first, she thought he might snap on her for running into him like she had.

Truthfully, she should be apologizing to him not the other way around. Then there was the issue of his hands on her. The hard band of muscle wrapped around her sent a sliver of nervousness up her spine but admittedly that wasn't the only thing she felt. Parker's heart abruptly gave a great pound at the realization and heat prickled over her skin. She didn't make it a point to convey just how uncomfortable she was to have his hands on her no matter the innocent intention of stopping her from falling.

"Hey butcher...I-" He pauses when he sees the look on Parker's flustered face. A bottle of juice is in his left hands and a hand in the other. He seems confused by the exchange.

Parker clenches her jaw tightly and quickly adverts her gaze to the floor. "Excuse me." She hurriedly moves to grab her fallen bag of items and slips past the pair to run out of the store.

The men stare at the spooked woman's retreating back, one confused and one deeply absorbed in his thoughts.

Hughie finally blinks away some of the surprise to address Butcher. "Who was that?"

Butcher's hard gaze lingers at the slowly closing door, an indecipherable look in his eyes. "Don't know. "Let's get a move on eh?"

xxxxXXXXxxxx

When Parker pulled into the driveway, she pulled the key from the ignition and waited. Her grandma Carmen's house is located on the other side of the city, practically on the outskirts. She almost turns the car back on just to feel the blasting heat circulate in the car once more while she waits.

She can still remember the heat from that man in the store form when she bumped into him. Was this what she'd become? Afraid and mistrusting of every man that got too close to her. No matter how she was feeling, she just could've lash out at a stranger for helping her based on her terrible experiences at the hands of another. It just wasn't right. Parker took in a few calming breaths before she exited the car. She walked on the small pathway blocks, only stopping when she heard an assortment of small meows from under the raised porch. A family of neighborhood cats live under there since her grandmother was prone to throwing scraps of food out for them to eat so they wouldn't starve.

Every time Parker sees the felines, she thinks about loading them all in her car and taking them to get a vet checkup but whenever she gets close they just scurry off. Not only that but the mama cat is especially viscous to anyone that gets too close to her kittens. She doesn't wanna get clawed to death while trying to help.

Despite the weather, the garden outside still looked fantastic. It smelled like it might rain.

As she raises a hand to knock the front door flies open, her expectant grandmother standing there with a pinched look on her face. At first glance, the older woman looked to be in her late 40s rather than her mid-sixties. She didn't have as many wrinkles as one would expect for someone her age. She always said that they had good genes.

"Bout time you got out of the car, I was tired of waiting on you." She huffed, waving Parker inside. "Come on in now. I don't want that cold getting in."

"How did you know I was outside?"

"I heard you pulling up."

"But how did you even know it was me?"

"Chile I know how your car sounds. And what happened? You were supposed to come visit me last week."

"I know grandma something...come up. I'm sorry."

The older woman stares at her for a few seconds longer, hands stationary at her hips. Eyes cat-like and full of life. Eventually, she gives Parker a warm smile that resembles her own before engulfing her in a big hug. And just like that all the tension in Parker's frame evaporates. "How you been, my pretty girl?"

"I've been good grandma." Parker responded, the woman's beaming expression made her smile in return.

"You showed up at the right time. I just finished cooking. Go in the kitchen and fix you a plate baby."

Parker's heart jumped hearing that. She's craved a home cooked meal from the woman for a minute now. Even the smells from the kitchen were already making her mouth water.

"Make sure you get some of that pie too!" The elder calls out from the living room.

She plays with the little fridge magnets in the shape of fruits. Her grandma Carmen, nicknamed "Cookie" has had these little magnets since she was little. She's a petite lady, ambling around the home in her house shoes. The great thing about her is that she still moves like she's twenty-five even in her old age. In fact, there's lots of nick knack's around the house that have been there since Parker was young. Like the little round cookie tin that contains sewing kits items.

Her house has always had that warm, comforting atmosphere around it since she was a child. Parker remembers the days where she'd get sick and be left at her grandmother's house throughout the day while her parents worked. Naps and long marathon's of Judge Judy, Maury, and Jerry Springer literally took up the majority of the time. Grandma Carmen is easily the most generous person Parker knows.

"What's wrong with your hair?" The elder woman questions.

"Nothing. I just put it up in a bun when I woke up."

Disapproval is written all over the woman's face. She doesn't know why but the feeling in Parker's chest is comforted by that. It's such a grandma thing to worry about. In fact, her grandmother was the one who taught her the importance of taking care of her hair.

Parker walked up to a wall that held a picture of her and her parents when she was about three years old. Although she didn't remember much at the time, she knew that they were happy.

Taking it day by day is getting harder and harder. Emotionally, it's been one of the hardest things to contend with. Even after all this time, she has yet to gain some mastery over the grief. Healing is still her responsibility no matter what and so far she's failed at that. Sure she has her ups and downs but that's to be expected. No one is happy every single of their life and if they say they are then they're lying.

"You alright sweet pea?"

Parker quickly pulled her eyes from the photo and took her seat at the table then the window. "Yeah, I'm fine." Silently hoping her grandmother didn't catch the lie that shouldn't have passed through her lips.

In an abstract sense, the feeling is measurable and real. The sheer range of emotions she goes through in a single day is alarming, from sadness to anger to emptiness. It's all so exhausting. And it's probably from a complete lack of self love. She can admit that she hasn't truly loved herself for a while. Parker paused, having to reason with herself not to have such awful thoughts. But at least 85% of the day, Parker finds herself embroiled in her thoughts.

What people don't understand, it's totally possible to feel lonely even with friends. She'd once heard someone give the same sentiment but it neve rang true until now. It's not okay to want to withdraw from her friends and the world altogether. Sometimes she'd be fine then other days she'll be falling apart. Depression would sneak up on her, swallowing her whole in a dark abyss of sadness. Parker thought as time went on it was supposed to get better.

The event altered everything in her world. To experience something so transformative at such a magnitude is traumatic. There's not a day where she doesn't think about them.

"Now I know I told you to get some food but damn!" Her grandmother's incredulous voice cuts through the air. "You your daddy's daughter alright!" She laughed.

"I didn't eat anything this morning." Parker explained, trying not to laugh at the woman's expression.

The woman shook her head. "By the look of that plate I'd say you didn't eat nothing all week. Lord have mercy."

She did have a tendency to overload her plate with if given the opportunity.

Parker sipped absently from her glass of lemonade, rubbing her temple with her other hand.

"What's the matter with you?" The woman asked again, her eyes having that gleam in them.

Parker was too immersed in her thoughts to notice that she wasn't really digging into her food like she usually would. "Nothing. Why would you ask that?"

Her grandmother would not be swayed however. "I never see you picking at your food. Something's gotta be wrong."

Whether Parker knew it or not, she wore an unmistakable cloak of despair around her that not many people would notice. It's not surprising that the old woman would notice it. Not much got past her. Parker sometimes forgets how intuitive the woman can be. Their relationship had always been close.

Her grandmother placed a nearly folded sheet on the couch and tilted her head to the side with a knowing expression. The direct eye contact is what really got Parker. Parker imagines it's not hard for her to be concerned. The downward curve of her mouth probably gave her away, either that or her tone of voice. The woman knew, she always knew.

Parker started fiddling with a loose string from her weather, trying to keep her composure together. She knew how dangerous that question was - asking what was wrong.

The younger realized that she couldn't offer a valid answer. The lump that tried to form in her throat earlier returned. Being mentally and emotionally on edge for some long is certainly a byproduct of that. Everything she felt was building up in a harmful combination that made a recipe for self-destruction. The silence stretched on until it became unbearable.

Just thinking of how to answer the question opened the floodgates and all the negative emotions she thought she pushed away came flooding back. Parker sagged against the women's bosom and wailed like a baby. Months of sadness and frustration pouring out in distressing waves.

The worst aspect about it was that it wasn't just for one reason, there's a multitude of things for her to be miserable about. Being unproductive because she's depressed is the most terrible feeling but she's also upset about being unproductive. It's a vicious cycle she can't escape from. There's a war going on inside of her. She knows what she has to do to feel better but she just can't. It's like a hole that grows deeper so she's not able to dig herself out.

The breakdown was so bad that the words couldn't even make their way out of her mouth, she could only sob in their place. In a way, she was grateful for this. A good cry made everyone feel a little better afterwards.

Her grandmother said nothing, only holding Parker in her arms while she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Calm down now. Breathe." Grandma Carmen urged. "You can't let it destroy you forever."

"Sometimes when tragedy happens, we just gotta keep it moving." Grandma Carmen assured, rubbing her back. "You think they would be happy to know that you just put your life on standstill."

At that moment her grandmother pressed gentle hands to her cheeks and lifted her head up. "Keep your chin up. Don't ever let anyone see you low like that. Not even me. You hear?"

Parker's breaths quickened in an effort to stop the tears. "Yes...ma'am" She sniffled.

The woman hands Parker some tissue. "Like any grandmother I worry for my grandchildren. I worry if they're happy, if they're sad. I worry about it all. I know how hard life can be. I'm seventy-two years old. I can tell you a lot of things but I'm gonna tell you what my mother told me. Life is about having no expectations but still being disappointed." She conveys. "I know...grief has dealt me plenty of blows throughout my life. But you just learn to take it day by day. This is life and sometimes we gotta deal with the hands we're dealt with."

Her grandmother places a hand to her chest. "I know it still hurts. I know baby. But let it go. You're still young, got so much of it to live. You need to get on with your life. And it starts with letting it go. All the weight, all the pressure. It's not yours to bear. All this suffering when you don't have to."

Parker feels like she's been punched in the chest at the words. For a long time, she knew what she wanted to do all along but hearing someone actually say the words is eye-opening. For once, she wants to feel that weight come off her shoulders.

"No matter what happens, no matter what situation, you strive to remain the same." She explained with a patient smile.

"We come from a long line of strong, resilient women. I know you and I know you're much stronger than that. Take back your power. You're letting the emotion take it away from you. Take it all back."

"The peace you want is just within arms reach, you just gotta reach out and grab it. Be that same headstrong, happy-go-lucky girl I helped raise all these years. Now stop all that crying and going on."

Parker blinked at that. The tragic thing about that is that Parker didn't even know if that was possible considering all that's happened.

Thinking of things in a different perspective was a specialty of the elder's. Parker and many others that knew her thought that she was a very gifted and wonderfully material person. Her advice is effortless to follow through on and her sense of judgment has yet to be challenged. On top of that it never fails to yield positive results.

When Parker finally managed to pull herself together she remained in the women's arms as if it was the only solid protection from the world around her. She wanted to stay there forever. Her grandmother had always been the glue to hold the family together even in difficult times. Black families are usually built on the backs of their grandmothers. The woman had been an anchor for Parker in all of this and she remains a natural treasure like many other grandmothers out there. Always full of wisdom and witty humor. Her love and support can literally last a lifetime.

Depression is hard to articulate even under what's deemed as normal circumstances. Oftentimes, Parker has to remind herself that she's invincible. She doesn't exactly feel down but she's just tired of being tired all the damn time. When she fell apart there was almost always no one there to pick up the pieces. Never had she been so sensitive emotionally up until this point in her life and lately it just seemed like she couldn't catch a break.

And then she has to question herself time and time again. She can acknowledge that her feelings are sometimes contradictory, unwanted, and the biggest problem is how does she successfully move forward? What steps does she have to take? Going to the support group is certain a step in the right direction. She would not even entertain the thought of telling her about the situation with Black Noir, there was no way in hell she would put the woman's life in harm's way like that. Parker loved her too much.

Her grandmother's words gave her a newfound confidence she didn't know she was capable of having. And although she half expected the elder to scold her for getting tears and snot all over her person and not being able to tell her what the problem was. Her acceptance of the breakdown was much more reassuring.

Everything her grandmother said was right. Parker can't accommodate the devastation anymore and she can't choose to resign herself to it any longer. For a long time, she felt as if she was just alive, now, it was time for her to start living. Life won't get the best of her anymore. She might have been dealt a shitty hand but that didn't mean she couldn't play with it. She refuses to deal with anything she doesn't have to. There's still some emotion healing that's needed and it won't go away overnight.

She's tired of feeling like everything is a struggle. It's getting to a point where she was worried that she might end up becoming a former shell of herself. The inner turmoil is just too much for her to bear. With the added stress of everything with Black Noir, it just made things all the more difficult to cope. He was living proof that monsters don't always hide in the dark, sometimes they operate in the spotlight. He had been seen for two weeks and she considered that a true blessing. She honestly hopes he never returns. If she knew of a way to ward him off for good.

Up until now, Parker had been able to ignore the steady drone of the television as her grandmother sat on the couch folding a basket of laundry, her eyes glued to the screen. Aside from the newspaper, the tv is where most older people get their information. Since her grandmother is big on watching the news, she doesn't realize how triggered Parker is at seeing clips of the supes on the screen. She'd seen them up close during her little break in attempt at the towers.

Parker barely noticed Stan Edgar giving a press conference on the subject of compound-v. From her understanding, there's a lot of commotion about the compound v fiasco and Vought is doing whatever they can to cover their asses. Frankly, any company would be scrambling to save face at a time like this. It was a hot topic for many of the major politicians and congressmen so it's not that surprising. There was a lot at stake for the company. There's really no telling whether they knew the truth or not. The whole notion that superheroes are created and not birthed is a scary concept. Scary but not impossible. Compound v, a serum that supposedly makes superhumans. Parker almost can't believe that for half a century people were made to believe that superheroes were chosen by God. Vought is a billion dollar conglomerate, they could snatch a star out of the sky if they truly wanted to.

She wondered if all of them were into shady dealings. The continuous belief never really left her mind. There are rumors that the company is set on gaining a lucrative military contract for supes. God only knows how that'll go.

Not to mention that this is her first time actually seeing what the CEO of Vought International looked like. He seemed like an intelligent, well put together man. He's certainly much more phlegmatic than Madelyn Stillwell in some aspects. In spite of that, Parker can't put her finger on it but there's something...off about him. Stan Edgar, one of many men with hordes of power at his fingertips. He doesn't even know that he holds the key to her salvation - that he can end her torment with the snap of his fingers. If only she'd gotten to speak with him when she'd infiltrated the tower. She really didn't want her efforts to be a waste of her time and hope. Parker would speak to him. It wasn't over. That's a promise.

Nagging suspicion gripped Parker immediately. She briefly wondered if he knew what one of his most prized employees got up to when they're not working. But the feeling is pushed down as soon as it manifests. No. There's no way he would have knowledge of Black Noir's transgressions against her. She found it very hard to believe that he, a very smart, rational man would allow something like that to continue. Still, the company had to know something. The idea might be a little far-fetched and even somewhat implausible by most standards but that didn't mean it wasn't true. Nothing is ever outside of the realm of possibility.

She ground her teeth at the mere thought of him. The thought of him used to terrify her but now it only enraged. The mysterious, unpredictable nature is what makes him so frightening. Underestimating him is the worst thing she could do. He's the type of person that can't be reasoned with. He would not continue to have power even when he wasn't present. She would survive it, she had to. Civilian be damned. That she was sure of. His transgressions against her wouldn't go unpunished. He'd violated and disrespected her too many times. She would never stop fighting him - never give in. He only sought to take from her and she wouldn't make it easy for him. Being at the mercy of someone so demented isn't nor will it ever be okay. If she had to invest in weapons for her protection then so be it.

With all the tears and snot gone, Parker feels some of the crushing weight evaporate off of her subconscious and heart. She finally feels like she can breathe without feeling guilty.

After a minute more of consoling her, her grandmother finally returns to folding the laundry on the couch. The leftover food on the plate has cooled and Parker makes a mental note to wrap it in tinfoil and take it home. Food prepared by the elder cannot go to waste under any circumstance.

The tv is still on broadcasting events and the news anchor is still on about a particular story that catches Parker's attention immediately. "Hey grandma can you turn it up?"

"...Our top story, a man was found dismembered in the truck of his car that was left in a popular club parking lot. More on this tonight as police investigate the heinous crime."

Jesus.

That's easily one of the most gruesome things she'd ever heard. What deranged do you have to be to chop a person up and put them in the trunk of a car?

"Oh lord. See that's why I tell you to be careful. It's some crazy people out in the world." Her grandmother asserts.

She's absolutely right, there are some crazy people in the world. Parker knew that better than anyone.

"Okay, Grandma it's almost dark out so I guess it's time for me to go." Parker says after a moment, standing from her seat. She walks over to giving the woman a prolonged hug.

"Next time I want you to come spend a weekend with me." Grandma Carmen drawls out.

"How about a whole week?" Parker counters.

The woman smiles from ear to ear. "That's even better!"

Grandma Carmen walks her to the door, advising her to be safe and telling her that she loves her. Parker makes sure to grab her plate of food and hug the woman one last time before she ventures back outside towards her car. The ground is wet from the fresh rain and the smell of outside is even stronger than before. The temperature has dropped significantly in the past few hours and to her it feels like arctic level climate and she can't wait to get in her car.

When she reached for the car door a frail mewl stopped her right in her tracks. Brows furrowing, Parker waits for a second, waiting to see if she'd just imagined the sound. It's only when the sound pierces the air again that she turns to find out what it might be. She instantly catches sight of a tiny ball of fur laying on the ground.

The kitten is laying in the clearing, meowing like crazy. Anxiety twisted Parker's gut distressingly. Parker scans the yard for it's family but they're nowhere to be seen. She doesn't think they would've deliberately left him behind. He looks mangled and disheveled, like something got a hold to him. Stray dogs are known to roam around the area as well and it's not hard to believe that one would attack another animal. She can't and won't leave this kitten suffering out in this cold. All of a sudden she's become this sort of savior for all injured cats she comes across.

A hurt, possibly sick animal can and will be unpredictable. Plus she doesn't want it's mother to come out of the woodworks and attack her. She's been scratched by frightened cats before and she has no intention of letting it happen again. She has to tread lightly in these kinds of situations. Cat injuries require special attention and it's worse because it's a small kitten and not a fully mature cat.

Parker retrieves a small blanket from the backseat and starts to slowly approach him. "It's okay...I'm just trying to help you."

The kitten doesn't look that alarmed at the sight of her approaching and that puts her at ease. She has to be careful with how she picks him up too. She's not able to access his wounds like she wants to and she doesn't want to make it worse than it already was.

Parker's elated when she finally manages to secure the still mewling kitten in the blanket, shielding him from the brutal cold. "I promise, I'll bring you back to your family soon. You can tell your mother that I want no beef with her."

She walks him back to the car, safety securing him in the passenger seat while he peers around curiously. The sight would've been adorable in different circumstances. By this time of night, the vet is almost surely closed so the only option would be to take him home. The last thing she expected was to make a dramatic rescue today but she'd rather do that than leave him out in the cold. Her compassion for animals would probably be her downfall and honesty, she's okay with that.

"Let's go home." She softly utters, placing the key in the ignition.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Billy sat stretched out on the couch, perceptive eyes scanning the room. MM sat working diligently working on the dollhouse that he wouldn't let anyone get close to. Frenchie was in the other room constructing another weapon occasionally checking up on his little mute supe companion that was currently preoccupied making coloring books in the middle of the floor. Hughie was god knows where. Probably gallivanting around like an idiot with Starlight as if they weren't made.

Billy rolled his eyes. Fucking gullible lad he was.

As far as he was considered Starlight was still a supe and a member of the Seven. And those were two big blaring reasons not to trust her. There's literally nothing that could stop her from ratting them out to her teammates. Hughie couldn't see it now because he was too busy being a love struck cunt. They couldn't afford a fucking slip up right now. Not when he was so close to a breakthrough. So close to fucking Vought.

His mind flashed back to the earlier encounter with a woman in the store. She was obviously scared but not because of him. At first, he chalked it up to her recognizing them from the news. But it was something else. He recognized the fear in the woman's eyes. He knew what that debilitating fear looked like in another. He'd seen it before in Becca right before she went missing. He could never get the image out of his mind. Whoever that woman was - she was scared out of her fucking mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So...I was gonna hold off on the news but I figured why the hell not. I'm in the early stages of writing a Homelander fic. It's been on my to-do list for a minute and I want to know how you all might feel about it. I'm thinking of setting it in the same universe as Onyx Armored Fate. Let me know what you think in the comments or on tumblr. Till next time!


End file.
